Beauty Bound
by NejiHina100
Summary: Vampires have come to Storybrooke, looking for a pure soul for an eternal feast. Now, Rumple and Belle must decide their fate or let the whole town perish. No Twilight, sorry. AU Vampire-fic. Rumbelle
1. Prologue

_Summary:_ Vampires have come to Storybrooke, looking for a pure soul for an eternal feast. Now, Belle must decided if she wants to live forever with Rumple and become the vampire's eternal feast, or perish along with the town. No Twilight, sorry. AU Vampire-fic. Rumbelle

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Once Upon A Time, they belong to ABC and Adam and Edward, creators. However, I do own the vampires. :) yea, I own vampires, jealous?

A/N: This is not set in specific time during the show except after the curse is broken and magic is brought to town. However, despite how much I love them, Rumple and Belle are not married, to make it more interesting to their relationship in this story. The only villains will be the vampires, and possibly each other. No Cora, Pan, etc. Warning: This will be rated M for intimacy.

* * *

A cool, sharp wind could be felt blowing around a small town in Maine at one in the morning. The crescent moon shined down on the houses and through out the town. The town rested on a harbor inlet with a lush forest surrounding it, secluding it from the rest of the world, with the exception of one small road leading out into the state. There were six pairs of eyes staring down onto the town, perched from the top of a tree at the edge of the forest. Six people who arrived to this town for a specific mission. Six vampires ready for a feast.

"Let's go. I'm too hungry to wait any longer," said the red-headed woman, playing with her favored dagger, ready for blood.

"No," the leader spoke, "We have to wait. Patience is a virtue and with all the time we have, surely you can manage."

"Mackenzie, we're running out of time. We _need_ to find that soul or-"

"I know what will happen, my dear friend. Calm yourself, Alexei." Mackenzie spoke with a calm and rationed voice. He was perched on the third branch from the top, the mop on his head covering his view every now and then. He pushed the blonde strands from his light blue eyes and back behind his ears, his eyes squinting to get a better view at the town below.

"Can you really blame him for being nervous? Hell, even I'm a little scared to find out what will happen if we don't succeed." Wren, the red-haired women spoke. She was the most anxious of the group and always known to take action before she used her brain for any plan. She took pride in herself for being known as the wild card and always let her enemies or victims know that little fact before she took their life.

"Mackenzie is right, Wren. We need to be careful with this. We must be cautious or we will loose our chance to take what we need. Do you even remember what is at stake here?"

"Shut it Vera! I know what is at stake, but it doesn't mean I have to wait so bloody damn long. I'm hungry." Wren said, with the tone of an upset child who just had their favorite toy taken away from them.

"We are all very hungry Wren. What is the plan for this mission?" asked Ivanna, looking towards Mackenzie with a teasing smile on her face.

"Simple, we go down and kill them until we find the right soul," explained Wren in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"I wasn't asking you!" yelled out Ivanna, giving Wren a shot of irritation. "I was asking our dear leader. You know, the one who always thinks first." It was Wren's turn to shoot Ivanna a irritated look.

Mackenzie simply continued to look out upon the town they had arrived at only a few moments ago. He had brought five others with him, not wanting the mission to be corrupted by too large of a group but still wanting enough skill to get the job done. He quickly thought over his team and how he had come to chose each one, knowing each one was needed for this delicate mission.

He was the leader of the group by popular choice. No matter the stress of the situation, he always remained calm and level-headed. He was known as a prodigy when it came to quick wit and natural smarts and everyone quickly looked up towards him to take charge with any mission. So it was no surprise when the others back home appointed him as the leader for this operation. He chose each member of his team carefully and, despite their differences, knew that they could work together in the end to get what was needed done.

Alexei, his best friend and right-hand man in this task. Alexei had ivory black hair and shamrock green eyes. Alexei was skilled with blood drain and was capable of draining every last drop of blood of a victim in seven seconds flat. The average time rate for draining a victim was fifteen seconds, even Mackenzie knew that the quickest time he could accomplish in draining a meal was twelve seconds. They would need a quick kill if they were caught before they were ready for the town to know who they were.

Next was Vera, she was Alexei's little sister of five years and could always be seen trailing behind her big brother like a dog on a leash. They were always found together and if you found one of them alone, it was safe to assume that the other wasn't that far behind. They were as close as siblings could get without crossing any lines on what was considered appropriate for their relationship. She was about a foot shorter than her brother, who measured almost six feet, and had the same color hair with lighter green eyes. While her brother was skilled in blood drain, Vera was skilled in hunting down the meal. That was why Alexei and Vera made such a good team. She would capture the prey while he drained it and they would so well together, like clock work.

Mackenzie knew that Vera's skill in hunting was extremely needed and valued. However, although she was able to capture the prey, she often fell short when it came to finding them. That was where Ivanna came in to fill the gap. It was known throughout the vampire community that no one tracked prey like Ivanna. Mackenzie was amazed when he learned that she was able to track a snow rabbit in a raging blizzard while it hid beneath the snow. He was also impressed by her beauty. Ivanna was known to possess beauty that many vampire women begged for, some even killed for it, although Mackenzie wasn't sure where that logic came from. Ivanna had brown, straight hair that she often pulled up into a ponytail. She had high cheekbones that only made her already stunning blue eyes stand out more.

If Mackenzie was told to choose which of the members of the group he preferred, he would choose Aston, hands down. If you asked him why, he would tell you that Aston was always quiet. With Wren and Vera's constant arguing and Ivanna's constant flirting towards him, it was nice to have a little piece and quiet and another male to hang out with. Despite Alexei being his friend, Mackenzie knew that he couldn't always be counted on for being there since he was always with his sister. Aston was quiet and reserved and rarely spoke, and when he did, everyone listened. Everyone, even Wren, would pay attention to everyone that came from Aston mouth, because know doubt, it would be very important. Like Mackenzie, Aston was a prodigy. He was a naturally when it came to strategy, puzzles, and problem solving. If you had an problem you couldn't fix, you went to Aston to solve it. That was if you could get him to talk. No one knew why Aston said very little but they also knew not to cross him. After all, it was always the quiet ones that were the deadly ones, and that rule was not exception when it came to vampires. Also, not only was his mind fast, but so was his body. There has yet to live one vampire who would out run Aston, even with their vampire speed. Aston was the smallest and the youngest of all the vampires. This wasn't because he was a vampire the least amount of years, he was older than wren, he was only sixteen when he was turned and killed his own victim. Mackenzie believed that it was because he was so young when he was changed and the shock overtook him into silence. It made the most sense to anyone and because he wouldn't talk about it, they all agreed on the answer.

The last member of the group was Wren, the wild card. Although Mackenzie was hesitant to have her on their team, he knew that Wren's skill with her dagger would help defeat any enemies they may have made while in the town. Wren's dagger was her prized possession above all else. When he asked her where she obtained it, she merely looked down and said 'father'. Despite how wild and almost blood-lust Wren could be, she did have a lot of care to give to her friends, and it was better to be her friend than her enemy. She held nothing back when she decided to take your life and often made a mess when she was done.

Mackenzie's thoughts were interrupted with Vera and Wren arguing, once again, over how to accomplish the task.

"Wren, we cannot just burst into their houses and slaughter them in their sleep. If we do that, how would we find the right soul?" Vera asked, always upset that Wren wouldn't use her head.

"Oh, right." Wren said, looking a little sheepish.

"So how do we go about doing this? How do we even know who is the purest soul in this town?" asked Alexei. He looked down towards Aston, who was perched on the lowest branch of the tree they were occupying. "Aston? What are your thoughts?"

"We become part of the town and get to know each individual carefully, until we find the right one. Then, we turn the soul and leave. I don't think it is necessary to take the rest of the town down. We can leave them be." Aston explained. Everyone blinked as they turned their attention from Aston and back to the town.

"Good plan Aston, as always. Obviously we can't let them know who we are," Mackenzie spoke.

"We could tell them that we are tourist, we stumbled upon their town, and were looking for a place to stay for a few nights."

"Nice idea Ivanna but, uh, where are our suitcases?" Vera asked, motioning around her body.

"Fine. We can say that we were hiking. Or better yet, we are friends who decided to rough it in woods, you know, for fun."

"I'm good with that." Vera said, smiling.

"Why don't we just head into town tomorrow morning and decide where we should go from their. Monitor their reactions to us being there. If it's normal for tourist to arrive or if they are shocked that we are here. Right now, we need to hunt tonight so we won't slip up tomorrow." Mackenzie explained.

"Right," said Wren. They then all jumped back and headed further into the forest, looking for the occasional rabbit or squirrel.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Storybrooke were sleeping, unaware of the danger that lurked on the outskirts of their small, close-knitted town. The streets were bare and quiet, with the exception of the occasional rustling of a newspaper blowing with the slight wind. Cars were parked and turned off, and the windows of each home and building were dark, lacking any light. However, if one looked close enough, they would see that in middle of the neighborhood, there was a house with the faintest ray of light shining through the small and narrow window of the basement. Inside was a man sitting at what appeared to be a spinning wheel. Rumplestiltskin was spinning straw into gold to try and get through the insomnia that plagued him at the moment. There were many nights back in the Enchanted Forest when he found himself incapable of sleeping the night away, so he would occupy himself by spinning, hoping to forget his past mistakes. Now, even in Storybrooke, he found himself back at his wheel, spinning, hoping to forget and praying sleep would take him away for the night.

However, tonight was not like all those other nights. Rumple stopped his fingers on the wheel and slightly cocked his head towards the window. The magic that he was using for the straw had suddenly sent a wave of power sweeping through his body. He stood up from his stool and walked over towards the window, peering out into the night. Rumple had felt this particular surge of power many times over his years and it always meant the same thing. The last two times he recalled this wave of power was the night before Regina cast the Dark Curse and right before he brought magic to the town. Something big was coming to Storybrooke, and he just hoped the town was ready this time for what would come, whatever it may be.

* * *

**So I am so excited to write this story. It woke me up last night and wouldn't let me go back to sleep. I love vampires very much but I didn't feel like adding the cast of Twilight in here, so I gave it my own characters. What I love about vampires the most is the intimacy that is often portrayed and will definitely be portrayed with Rumple and Belle during this story. I have tons of ideas that has been in my head for months of what would happen to them if Belle became a vampire. I also don't think that vampires in OUAT is too far of a fetch, considering that fairytales are a part of stories and vampires are part of legends, and stories and legends fall in pretty much the same category. Also, I feel that sometimes the show is a little too light. Despite it being a family show, I think it's safe to say that it can be a tad twisted with all the family connecting, the age and time situation, the morphing, etc., so I wanted to throw some dark mystery into the mix.**

**Please review, they really do help. I love your opinion on this story and what you may want to hear, I do take people's opinion into consideration. Because this is an AU fic, will not follow any storyline in the original story, obviously. This means no Cora, Pan, or Zelena. Only the vampires. Again, thank you for reading and please, please, please review. Thank you. :)**

_Next chapter: The town meets six visitors and Rumple notices something strange about the newcomers._


	2. Chapter 1: New Visitors

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Once Upon A Time, they belong to ABC and Adam and Edward, creators. However, I do own the vampires. :) yea, I own vampires, jealous?

A/N: I am hoping not to rush with this story like I kinda did on _This thing we have_, so I can say that I won't be uploading three chapters a day, sorry. Also, my brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew are coming to visit this weekend and for the following week so I am not sure how much writing I will be doing. So I can't guarantee a chapter everyday, but I will do what I can because I don't want you to wait a whole week for a new chapter, I know I don't like that. Since this is my second multi-chapter story, I know where I am going with this one so this story might make a little more sense than my first one. I hope you enjoy it and please review. They really do help. :)

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The Tuesday morning in Storybrooke was about the same as any other day of the week, the wind was cold and damp with the sea air. There was always a sense of an underlying mystery to the town blowing in the wind and Rumple could feel it more evident this morning than ever. He recalled last night when he sat at his spinning wheel and the surge of power that blew through him. When Rumple woke up this morning, he did his best to go on about his morning the best he could. He woke, dressed, grabbed his cane, and headed out the door. The only difference to his morning routine was that he found himself looking out towards the windows every few minutes, searching for something that might be hiding in their little town. To help shake the lingering sense of last night's power surge, Rumple let his mind wander.

For the last few months, the town remained calm and quiet. The Charming family actually managed to last two months without knocking on his shop's door, begging for his help to snuff out their newly created flame that threatened to burn down their small quaint town. It was a game Belle and he would often play when they finished their last life or death mission. Belle's recent bet in their game was that the Charmings would be able to survive without his magic for two weeks, while Rumple's bet they wouldn't even live for one week before crawling on their knees back to his shop. When he lost, Belle was more than happy to collect her reward. Rumple smiled as he remembered his price, a hamburger date at Granny's, Bell's favorite place to eat. With no villain of his or Regina's past threatening their lives, Belle and Rumple were able to move a little further into their relationship. Belle had decided to move in to his home about a month ago and Rumple had no objections. The closer she was to him, the safer she would be.

Belle's relationship with her father also improved over the last few months. Although Moe French was still hesitant on the idea of his daughter dating and loving the pawn shop owner, he was doing his best to remain civil around the two. Rumple was also on his best behavior around Mr. French and decided to show a little truce when he deducted fifty-bucks from the flower shop owner's rent, an act that had Belle spreading kisses all over him. Again, Rumple had no objections. She continued to work in her library and spend time hanging out with Ruby. Rumple was still shocked when Belle decided to forgive Ruby's mistake in the library but it was one of the traits he loved about Belle, she was always forgiving. Although he was more than happy for Belle having friends, he was still a tad reluctant to accept Ruby. She was Belle's best friend and knew of Belle's past with castle cells and hospital asylums and she had the gall to chain her down to the desk. It was something Rumple would never forget but if Belle was willing to forgive her, than perhaps he could accept the fact that Ruby was making it up by being the best friend she could be to Belle.

Everything was going great in their lives and the town but with the lingering spark of power blowing in the wind, Rumple knew it was only a matter of time before everything changed. He only hoped that everyone would be ready for what came.

There was a slight pause in Rumple's step as he headed closer to Granny's bed and breakfast inn. He realized that the new power he was feeling was coming from within the house. He swung open the door to see six people standing in front of the main desk. There were five of the new people who looked to be around their late twenties while the last one looked to be around his teenage years, sixteen perhaps. He noticed how there were three male and three females. Rumple wasn't one for vanity or judging someone's appearance but he found himself noticing how beautiful the six people appeared to be. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Ms. Lucas explain to one of the men the rules about the inn and asking if they wanted a square view or forest view. Rumple couldn't help but notice how Granny looked a little on edge this morning.

"Forest will be fine, thank you." Rumple heard the man say, as he watched him take the two keys for room five and six. The pawnbroker saw the man's mop of blonde hair and blue eyes as he turned towards Rumple to give a quick nod of hello. Before Rumple could return the gesture, he saw Granny hold out a bundle of rolled up money.

"It's all there," she said.

"Yes. Of course. Thank you Ms. Lucas." Rumple reached to grab the money before giving a nod to Granny and the newcomers. As he turned to walk away, he noticed how the youngest newcomer slightly stepped back as the sorcerer walked by him. Rumple wasn't sure if the kid was giving him more room for him and his cane or if he simply wasn't one for physical contact. Rumple would have easily let the thought leave his mind if it wasn't for the spark of power he felt as he walked by. Although Rumple could recall every last detail of the interaction, it had only occurred in less than a minute. Rumple then opened the door to leave the inn as the new visitors to the town left to their respected rooms.

As Rumple headed toward his shop, he created a to-do list in his head. He needed to find out who these new visitors were, why they had power, and why they were here. He didn't bother to think for a moment if they could be allies. Rumple made it a rule a long time ago that everyone was an enemy until he determined otherwise, wether they be allies, pawns, or simple peasants looking for a deal. Storybrooke rarely got visitors and it was certain that every one of them always brought something bad to the town, with Emma being the exception to the rule since she broke the curse. He knew that these six newcomers wouldn't be any different and he was determined to find out their story, and their names. After all, names had power.

* * *

The mid-morning in Granny's diner was more busy than usual and it didn't take long before Granny and Ruby both told the citizens about the new visitors that arrived earlier that morning. If ever you wanted to hear gossip in Storybrooke, the diner ran by the werewolves was the hot spot. Ruby was the queen bee of gossip and the diner was her nest as she spread word to each of her little bees, knowing they would spread the word among the hive. It was hard to find one person in town excited for the tourists, except perhaps Henry, who despite having grown up a little was still naive and childish.

"I think it would be nice to have more people come," Henry said.

"So what, they can learn our town's little secret and begin tours up and down main street?" Emma asked. She watched as Henry gave a smile that had devious written on it.

"Not exactly. I just don't get to meet new people that often. I love this town but it's good for someone my age to branch his social connections out."

"Good excuse but it's not working. Why don't you stay away from them until we know they are safe. After all, all the people that ever came to our town has only brought trouble." Emma said, sipping on her hot chocolate with cinnamon.

"You didn't. You broke the curse and that was a good thing."

"Also kid, it might be helpful if you don't talk out loud about that stuff. Especially if one of the new guys are here."

"What makes you think they are dangerous."

"Well, I would prefer to meet them myself. I can always use the 'sheriff' card, it helps for situations like this," Emma said, smiling. "Also, Granny and Ruby both said they smelled something strange when the visitors arrived to the inn this morning, and if those two believed something is wrong, then perhaps something is."

"Where are visiting from, did Granny say?"

"That's what is strange. Granny said that they didn't have any suitcases with them when they arrived. They were just roughing it in the woods for fun when they came across our town and decided to stay for a while."

"That is strange. So, operatio-"

"No Henry. No operations." Emma quickly replied.

"But-"

"No. Just because you were right about the curse, it does not give you the right to know everything that goes on in this town. You're still just a kid, okay? I'm the sheriff and it's my job to find out what is going on, not yours. You need to be focusing on school and making more friends than just your mom." Emma took one more sip of her hot chocolate and then grabbed her jacket.

"Listen kid I have to go. I'm going to find one of the visitors and see what I can get from them. You need to get to school."

"Alright mom. See you later." Henry said as Emma placed a kiss on his head before leaving the diner.

* * *

It wasn't long before Aston understood the layout of Storybrooke. It was easy for him to see it when he perched himself on top of the trees in the forest. From there, he was able to give himself an aerial view of the town. The key he used to indicate the middle of the town was the clock tower that towered over all the buildings. Beneath it was the library and all the businesses, the inn, the diner, the pawnshop, surrounded the tower. Beyond the town center was the citizens' homes north and east of the clock tower. South lead to the forest and the harbor and docks were placed at the west side.

Once he and the others left up to their rooms in the inn that morning, they devised a plan. It was rather simple. Their story was that the six of them were friends who decided to rough it in the woods for fun when they stumbled onto their town and decided to stay awhile. They knew that the story was pretty far fetched considering that they did not have the appearance of roughing it and how they had some cash and a few credit cards on them. Despite not having suitcases, they seemed well prepared for a town for people hiking through the forest. However, they knew that it would not matter in the end. What concerned Aston the most was the few people they had come across already.

It was their first day, not noon yet, and they already had two people on their list to keep an eye on. First was the old inn keeper. The moment they stepped into the inn, they smelled the stench of a werewolf. They smelled it coming from the old inn keeper and the look that she passed onto them when they first entered, showed that she could smell something off about them, that they weren't normal visitors. They could also smell a second stench of a much younger werewolf and although they did not meet another that morning, they knew that the person was somewhere in this town.

The second person to watch on their list was the old man that came by for some money. Perhaps the others did not know it but Aston could sense it. The man with the cane was a sorcerer. Aston knew this because he had come across a few in his past, shortly after being turned, and he could recognize the aroma of magic. The smell of magic was not as strong as the stench of a werewolf but it always had a more powerful punch to it when you came across it. Aston made the mistake of taking a step back and was giving a sharp look from the man. He only hoped that the man believed he was being a kind and respectful teenager, giving the crippled man some room to walk. However, Aston didn't believe this would be the case.

_Great, it is our first day here and we already have two werewolves and a sorcerer to keep our eye on. This is going to be must difficult than we believed. We should have done far more research before coming. We didn't know enough._ Aston rarely worried with problematic situations and always kept his head calm. However, he knew that they had already messed up and they would have to be very careful from now on if they wanted to complete this task and leave without much trouble.

Next to Mackenzie, Aston wasn't one to give into his bloodlust. He was still traumatized from the first time he ever sunk his fangs to someone's neck, draining them of their blood. As a human, Aston always fought for the little guys, the underdogs, and the bullied. Taking an innocent life was against his belief. Since that first day, Aston did his hardest to take only the blood of animals and of someone who very well deserved it. He knew he was not the cleanest vampire, but he knew that there were crooks, thieves, murderers, and rapist out there in the world who deserved to die.

Aston than spotted a woman in the streets. There were plenty of women walking about in the town, but this particular one had caught Aston's eye. He wasn't sure why, but there was something about this one women that had Aston leaping down from the tree and heading back towards town before he could stop himself.

* * *

Wren and Ivanna were walking down the main street after their meeting this morning. They were to appear as if they were visiting the town for fun, so the two girls decided to browse through the shops and stores. They have been walking the town for about two hours before Wren got tired and restless.

"Doesn't this town have anything fun?" Wren complained.

"Well, it is a small town. Small towns are pretty excluded from main cities," Ivanna explained.

"Tell me about it. There's only one of everything. One car shop, one pharmacy, one library, and one mall."

"Well, they do have a couple of more restaurants than Granny's. One's a chinese place and the other has seafood cooking."

"Still, this town is boring."

"Please stop complaining Wren and remember why we're here." Ivanna said in a hushed voice, hoping that the few people they were walking by would not catch on to anything.

"Will you relax a little? Geez, you're so uptight sometimes," Wren teased, placing her hands on her head in a relaxed pose. "We have all the time in the world and besides, you're just trying to be a goody two-shoes for Mackenzie." Ivanna's face fell into a shocked expression before quickly turning it into a scowled look, hoping to cover up her embarrassment. Wren only found her expression rather amusing and laughed out loud.

"Oh please! It is so obviously clear that you love him. Heck, even he knows it. It's not that he hasn't noticed, he's ignoring you because you are way too clingy."

"I am not!" Ivanna retorted back.

Before the girls could begin arguing, they noticed someone rather familiar begin to walk by them. It was the old man from the inn this morning, the one Aston had talked to them about this morning, claiming he was a sorcerer. For someone who did not know Aston, they would have probably laughed at him for the comment. However, if you did know Aston, you always took what he said seriously. He advised the group to keep an eye out on the old man, along with the werewolf of the inn, and if they came across him, to be extra careful with what they did or said. Something that would be harder for Wren than it would be for the others, since she never thought before she spoke.

"Hello ladies. It's good to see you again. Are you enjoying your stay here in Storybrooke?" The old man asked, smiling kindly.

"Oh, uh, yes. It's a nice town, small and quiet." Ivanna said, hoping the man would leave before a vital piece of information slipped from Wren's mouth.

"Yes, well, we like it here. I'm sorry, I haven't introduce myself yet. I'm Mr. Gold. I own the pawnshop down the street. And you are?" Gold asked, flashing a pleasant smile to the two ladies.

"I'm Ivanna and this is Wren." Ivanna said, pointing towards her and her friend.

"Peculiar names. May I ask where you come from?"

"Oh, here and there. We just like to travel a lot. We don't really think about where we go sometimes. I guess you could say we travel with the wind." Wren said, smiling back to Mr. Gold and earning a quick look from her friend.

"Oh well that sounds lovely. I'm sure you'll find that our town is probably not as interesting as some of the other places you may have been. Like you said, it's small and quiet." A brief moment of silence passed between the two ladies and Mr. Gold before he noticed a movement in the corner of his eye.

"I guess I should be leaving now. Um, welcome to Storybrooke and enjoy your stay ladies." Gold said, flashing one last smile before he continued on and walked passed Ivanna and Wren.

"Thank you." Ivanna called out after him. Wren and her shared a look before continuing on their way throughout the town, neither realizing that they had just giving the old man a very vital piece of information. Their names.

* * *

Once Belle opened the doors to the library, she was filled with the smell of paper, ink, and dusty book covers. Despite the oddity of it, Belle always found comfort and solace surrounding her when she opened the cover of a book, as she heard the slight wrinkle of the paper when she turned the pages. She always felt home among her books and whenever she found herself without Rumple, the first thing she always picked up was a book. It never mattered what the book was or if she even read a page, sometimes it was just the weight of the book that made her feel safe. She was often teased by the servants in her father's castle, overhearing them whisper behind her back and mentioning how shocked they were that she had yet to fall into some hole in the ground. She was told plenty of times throughout her years that a lady shouldn't be filling her head with nonsense, but those words always fled her mind as she allowed the words of another world to overwhelm her with their stories.

Belle knew who she was and she was more than happy to prove it over and over again throughout time. She loved to see the shocked expressions on people's faces when she showed them what she could do with a book. She knew that the town probably wouldn't always admit it, but if ever someone needed information on an enemy or some far off world, Belle was the person to go to. However, when it came to magic, it was Rumple and Regina who were the go-to people. Though Belle never minded, she preferred history and legends over magic tricks.

It was almost noon when she entered the library and Belle had to begin sorting out books for histories of countries. Henry's class was beginning their history papers today and the school's library did not have all the books required for them to receive good grades. Rumple claimed that it was because the fairies, or the nuns, only wanted the kids to know what they thought were important. Belle knew that Rumple did not like the fairies and laughed as he once called them control freaks. Since Belle gladly volunteered for the kids to use any resources they might need in the public library, she was beginning to take all the books for history and started to place them on the carts. When she gathered all the books that would be needed, she pushed the carts towards the middle of the room, making it easier for the kids to find.

As she headed towards the circulation desk to begin cataloging new books, Belle's head turned when she heard the library doors swing open. She saw as a young man walked in with platinum blonde hair and green eyes. He appeared to be around sixteen years old. Belle knew that she did not know every kid in the school personally, however, everyone in Storybrooke knew who was part of the town and who wasn't. She thought that perhaps it came with the curse. However, she was certain that this person was one of the newcomers that she heard about around Granny's.

"Hi, may I help you?" Belle asked the young man.

"Hi. I, um, I guess I'm looking for a book." He said, slightly chuckling.

Belle smiled as she said, "Well, you've come to the right place. You're free to look around. If you need help with anything, let me know. I'm Belle."

She watched as the boy started to walk around the library, casually browsing the shelfs. "Thank you," he said. "I'm Aston, by the way."

* * *

**Okay, I know this was a long chapter, but considering how detailed I want this and how much information needs to be given, I have a feeling most of the chapters are going to be long. Please review and let me know what you think. Thank you. :)**

_Next time: The mayor holds a conference meeting and Henry comes across something interesting._


	3. Chapter 2: Learning

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Once Upon A Time, they belong to ABC and Adam and Edward, creators. However, I do own the vampires. :) yea, I own vampires, jealous?

* * *

Henry knew his mother was right. He might have been right about the curse but he was still only a kid. What right did he really have to get involved with every last detail of what was going on in the town? His mother was the sheriff and it was her job, not his. He was to be a kid, make more friends, and work on his history paper that was assigned today. His mother was right, but it didn't make things easier. He possessed a very curious mind and wanted to know everything and couldn't help but feel that perhaps he _did_ have the right to know. After all, if it wasn't for him leaving to bring Emma to Storybrooke, she wouldn't have broken the curse. There was a small part of him that felt that perhaps he was the real hero for having the curse broken, not Emma. Henry wasn't sure why he felt this way, maybe he was just being a kid, but Henry started to feel left out from his family. '_I thought family was suppose to tell each other everything',_ he thought. Yet, his birth mother was being secretive and his adoptive mother was busy being the mayor. Although he was being left out, or so he felt, Henry was extremely happy that the town had not experienced anymore trouble recently. No more villains or life and death fights. Magic was still in Storybrooke, thanks to Mr. Gold, but everyone was getting use to it. Having magic in town helped make everyone feel that they were back at home in the Enchanted Forest, with all the drama being downsized. For the last few months, everything was perfect. So why did Henry have a bad feeling?

It was around lunch at school and Henry decided to take the opportunity to skip the rest of school and take a quick stroll in the forest to help clear his head of any doubts about, well, anything he guessed. After all, he didn't think he had much to go home to if his family was going to keep him out of the loop. Henry knew he didn't have much friends, most of the kids already kept away from him before the curse was broken and walked further from him when the curse was broken, remembering who his mother was. So Henry often found himself playing alone, something that often bothered him. He wished that some people would take him more serious than they did. He was far smarter than people believed and always felt more mature than other kids his age.

He was walking in the forest for a good fifteen minutes, heading towards his mother's crypt, when he noticed red on the leaves that had fallen on the ground. He found it odd when it was close to spring at this time of the year, despite the lack of lush flowers everywhere, and bent down to examine the leaves closer. He noticed that it was not a red leaf but rather blood that fallen on the leaf. When he looked a little further, he noticed the blood formed a trail, leading away from him. Being the too often curious young lad he was, he followed the trail to see where it led. He quickly found a rabbit lying dead on the ground. Henry wasn't much of a nature kid but he was able to tell that the rabbit's throat seemed to have been ripped apart. Henry had read many comics, and some of them were perhaps too gory for his age, but the dead animal that laid in front of him was the most gruesome sight that Henry ever saw. The animal's throat was completely torn apart in two, showing the spine, and pouring the muscles out onto the ground. It's head seemed to have also been crushed but some strong force. It's skull was extorted inward, making one of the eyes pop out, the vein still connected to the eyeball. To make the sight more gruesome than it already was, the rabbit's white fur was saturated with deep red blood, flowing from the neck and pouring onto the ground. Henry wasn't sure what animal would have caused the rabbit's death but figured that the predator must still be out among the trees.

The forest surrounding Storybrooke was rather extremely large for a small town and if one strayed too far and didn't know where they were going, they could easily get lost for a few days, or more. Henry knew that not many wild animals, if none at all, lived in the Storybrooke forest, so he wandered if some animal from the outside of town wandered in. He figured that he should inform his grandfather about the rabbit and let him decided if the rabbit's death was merely nature or if the town should be on alert for some large predator. After all, Grandfather Charming was an animal vet before the curse broke. If it was the latter, Henry's guess was perhaps some wildcat. Deciding he had enough of his nature walk, he turned around and headed back into town. Before he got far, he heard a rustling in the trees behind him. Turning around, he saw some large shape after him and deciding not to stick around to identify the animal, Henry sprinted as fast as he could back to town.

* * *

Belle felt that the young boy that had entered the library was rather harmless. He was very polite, friendly, and quiet. The boy, Aston, was looking through the history section of books and although he had told her that he was simple looking, Belle had a feeling he was looking for something specific when she watched him scan each spine rather carefully for the last few minutes. She decided to walk over to him and offer her help to the young kid.

"Are you sure you're not looking for anything specific? I'm sorry, I couldn't help but notice how you seem to be scanning each book carefully. Are you sure you don't need any help? I know this library pretty well." Belle informed, offering a smile to the kid.

"Well, I guess I was wondering if you had any books about the history of vampires?" Aston questioned, gauging Belle's reaction carefully. "If seems as if you don't have much books on history." He gave a small smile as he pointed towards the empty shelves.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Most of our history books are on those carts over there," Belle said, pointing towards the middle of the library. "The kids in school are starting a history paper today and I wanted them to be able to find the books they would need rather easily. However, they are mostly books covering the history of the world's countries. As for the history of vampires, perhaps you should try the fictional section. It is on the back wall." Belle explained.

"Fictional?" Aston questioned. He took a quick look towards the back of the room and returned his gaze back towards the librarian. "Oh, okay. Thank you."

Belle watched as the kid walked towards the back of the room, wondering why the boy looked perhaps a little upset for a second that the stories of the vampires were in the fictional section. She questioned in her head if Aston knew that vampires were not real. She quickly stopped herself when she realized that the world they currently lived in believed that the citizens of this town were nothing but fictional characters themselves.

She walked back to the circulation desk, waiting until one o'clock when the nuns and the students would come in to begin their papers. Around twelve forty-five, she saw Rumple walk into the library, greeting her with a smile and a kiss. She saw as he passed a quick look towards the person in the back of the room and Belle wondered if he had came to make sure that she was still alive. She loved Rumple more than she could breath, but she couldn't help but laugh sometimes thinking that perhaps he was a little too protective of her. However, after what they have been through before, she knew that she couldn't really blame him for his overprotectiveness. It was also a trait about him that she found herself loving and finding rather sexy many times.

"I came to check on up you, love," Rumple said.

"Really? I should have guessed." She teased, casting him a loving smile.

"I was thinking perhaps tonight, if you wanted, we could eat out and perhaps invite your father?" asked Rumple, rushing the end of the question. It wasn't surprising when Belle squinted her eyes towards Rumple, knowing he had a reason for nearly everything he did. She loved how civil both her father and Rumple were being around each other, however, neither of them had agreed to eat dinner together before and Belle knew that something was amiss when one of them invited the other. The fact that it was Rumple who made the first move had Belle a little more worried than she would have been if her father invited him.

"Why?"

"Why? Why is this a question? I thought you would have been happy for me for trying to make an effort with your father? Suddenly I'm being accused for causing some trouble?" Rumple sounded a little hurt but Belle knew that it was for the sake of teasing her.

"Well someone must have a guilty conscious because I'm not accusing you. I simple asked why. Should I be accusing you, love?" Belle asked, smiling towards Rumple who returned a teasing smile back.

"Nope. I just thought I should try something nice for once. It's good to know that's not what you expect of me." Rumple stated, causing Belle to laugh at him for his innocence play.

After Belle placed a kiss on Rumple's lips, Aston walked up towards the desk and placed a book onto the counter.

"Did you find what you needed?" Belle politely asked, being the kind librarian everyone loved.

"Yes, I did. You were very helpful. Thank you." Aston replied to Belle, sending her a smile as he saw her slightly blush at his compliment. Because Aston did not own a library card, Belle informed he that if he wanted to check out the book, he would have to pay six bucks for it and it would be given back to him when he returned the book. However, like everyone else who checked out a book, he only had two weeks to either return it or renew the check-out. Belle was pleased to see that he did not have an issue with this fact and took down the information needed for his check-out. She then took his money and handed the book back to the young boy.

As Belle was kindly helping Aston with the check-out, Rumple took the opportunity to take a good look at the book the newcomer found. It was a five inch by three inch book with a three inch width. The design of the book was a solid black cover with the image of a shiny red bat placed in the middle and the words _Vampyre_ in the same shiny red lettering written near the bottom. When Aston noticed that the old man was staring at the book, their eyes stared at each other for perhaps two seconds before looking away, both hoping that the third person present would not notice the tension between the two men.

As Aston was leaving the library, he knew that the old sorcerer was officially suspecting Aston now and most likely the others as well. _So much for being careful_, Aston thought as he closed the doors behind him, the book in his hand.

Back in the library, Rumple turned his head back towards Belle after watching the boy leave the building. He saw the confused look on Belle and knew that she was smart enough to feel the previous tension between the young lad and the old man.

"What was that for?" Belle asked.

"Oh, it wasn't much."

"Rumple, I know you," said Belle, giving Rumple a knowing look. "I also know that the young boy that was just in here was one of the newcomers in town. You know, the six people that the whole town is quietly talking about?"

"I know. I met them this morning when I went to pick up Ms. Lucas' rent. They are quite interesting."

"Do you suspect that they might be dangerous?" Hearing the worry in his True Love's voice, Rumple smiled at her before giving her a kiss. "Don't worry love, I'm sure that they are just visiting and will be leaving our town soon."

Before Belle could respond back, the doors opened once again and she saw the nuns walk in with the students trailing behind. She gave Rumple a quick goodbye and one last kiss before she watched him leave the library. As she turned towards the students, she couldn't help but notice that one kid was missing. _Where's Henry?_

* * *

After checking in on the sheriff's office, it wasn't long before Emma was able to find one of the newcomers. Although there were only six, Emma knew that Storybrooke was a little larger than people believed it to be and she figured that it had to do with the forest. Emma didn't really like to wander into the forest much, believing that she wouldn't be able to find her way back to town. Emma was not much of a nature girl and preferred to stay indoors when given the option of a hike or a movie. She was walking down the main street around one o'clock when she nearly bumped into a woman Emma knew she never saw before. The woman stood around five feet tall, the sheriff towering her by a few inches, and had light green eyes contrasting her ivory black hair. Emma felt a little horrible with herself for not watching where she was going when she saw the look of fear on the young girl's face.

"I am so sorry. I didn't hurt you, did I?" The young girl asking, scanning her eyes over Emma as if checking to see if there were any damage done to the woman.

"No, it's okay. I'm fine. I wasn't watching where I was going," Emma quickly responded. She held out her hand to the young girl and smiled when she shook her hand. "I'm Emma. I'm the sheriff here in Storybrooke." The slight widening of the girl's eyes didn't go unnoticed by the savior.

"Oh! Oh, um, hi. It's good to meet you." The girl said, a thin line spread on her face.

"I just wanted to meet one of you and give you a welcome. So, uh, welcome to Storybrooke. If there's anything you need, just let me know. My office is down the street near city hall."

"Thank you. That's very nice of you." Vera remembered their group meeting this morning and the caution to be very careful and act somewhat natural. Vera always believed that she was a pretty good actress, but being around this Emma woman gave her a bad feeling. For a brief second, Vera could feel the oncoming taste of venom in her mouth and before she could start to run, she heard someone call out to her.

"Sister." Vera turned to see her big brother standing behind her, quickly swallowing the venom that was building in her mouth down her throat.

"Oh, hi brother. This is Emma," Vera said, pointing towards the sheriff. "She's the sheriff of the town and wanted to give us a welcome, and if we have any issues we can go to her."

"It's nice to meet you Ms. Emma." Alexei shook the hand that Emma offered, giving her his best smile. "I'm Alexei and this is my younger sister, Vera." Emma couldn't help but notice how one of Alexei's hand grabbed his sister's upper right arm in what seemed to be a rather possessive manner. For a brief second, Emma also thought that she might have seen Vera's eyes start to turn red but quickly dismissed it as a flicker of light from the sun.

"Well, it's nice to meet you two. Welcome to Storybrooke." Emma and the two newcomers shared a few more smiles and a nod before Emma walked on towards the mayor's office. When she took a look behind her, she noticed how the man and his sister were heading rather fast towards the forest. Before she could call out to them to warn them about the forest, the phone attached to her belt began to rang. When she looked down, she saw that it was the person she was headed towards calling. Sliding her finger on her iphone to unlock the screen, she placed it on her ear to answer the call.

"Hey Regina...okay...be there soon." Emma hung up her phone and continued her way to the mayor's office.

* * *

It wasn't long before Regina heard the news of the six new visitors in Storybrooke. After all, once the old granny and her werewolf granddaughter gave one person in the diner news, it took less than two hours before quite literally everyone in town heard the news from someone. Regina heard the news from Archie when he was walking his dog as she was on her way to her office. She also knew the town's reputation with tourists and she didn't really feel like dealing with more trouble. Although her relationship with her son was still slightly rocky, everything was remaining calm in town and she wanted it to stay that way. Since she was the mayor, it was her job to keep things in Storybrooke on a steady path. They have had enough problems with enemies in the past to last a lifetime or two. So, she decided to call up the few people she knew who would probably already have some information concerning the new visitors. Within a few minutes, the sheriff, the pawnshop owner, and the prince turned animal vet walked into her office.

"If this is about the new visitors wandering around Storybrooke mayor, I suggest we just leave them be. Perhaps they will leave on their own and we won't have to deal with them." The prince quickly stated. Although his main job was the vet at the Storybrooke Animal Center, he often acted as a co-sheriff alongside his daughter, helping with any case he could assist with. Regina believed that doing so wasn't so much as to help his daughter, but rather to feel the taste of being in power again. _Not that he held much power before. He was only a prince, not a king_, Regina thought.

"Yes, this is about the visitors and no, I don't think we should leave them be. Or have you forgotten all the other trouble we received when new people arrive in our town?" Regina spatted back towards the prince while sending a quick glare in the savior's direction, who only looked blankly towards the mayor.

"I for once must agree with Regina. I think there is something up with these guys," Emma said.

"Are you simply guessing or have you actually paid attention, dear savior?" Emma looked at the pawnbroker with a look of extreme disbelief at what she assumed was an insult.

"Hey! Yes, I have noticed a few things about a couple of them. I haven't meet all six but I did meet two of them. They were a brother and sister named Alexei and Vera." Gold now had two other names.

"What did you notice?" Asked the prince.

"Well, when I mentioned I was the sheriff, the girl looked a little shocked."

"I don't think that's really anything too off. After all, it's always a little nerve wracking to meet the sheriff when you first enter into a new town, or even just meeting the sheriff alone." The vet explained.

"Okay, how about this? The brother seemed to hold his sister's arm rather possessively," Emma said.

"He could have just been trying to protect his sister," the mayor replied.

"Fine! Last one. I figured that perhaps it was a flicker of light but I thought that I saw the woman's eyes start to turn red." Gold slightly turned his head in the sheriff's direction.

"Red?" Regina questioned.

"Yes. Red. In fact, when I first met her as I almost bumped into her, I clearly saw that her eyes were a light green color. And than I saw them turn a little red."

"What does that-" Regina began to say before she was interrupted by Gold.

"No, she's right."

"I am?" Emma asked, showing her shocked expression.

"Yes, for once." Emma went from shocked to annoyed. Within three minutes, the irritating deal maker managed to insult her twice. "There is definitely something strange about our new visitors."

"How so?" David asked.

"I had the privilege of meeting our new friends this morning as I collected Ms. Lucas' rent for the month." Rumple informed, as he walked a few steps to sit himself down in the chair placed in front of Regina's desk, placing his cane on the edge of the table. "I cannot say for certain who the six visitor are just yet, but I do believe I have a good idea."

"And are you going to let us in on what you know or are you going to be the jerk you are and make us guess?" Regina replied towards Gold, giving him a teasing smile.

"Well, if I told you dear mayor, I am certain you will not believe me."

"Try us," David dared, crossing his arms in front of his chest. A moment passed as the three others in the room glared at the imp before he decided to speak up.

"Vampires." Another moment passed as the mayor, the sheriff, and the co-sheriff stared at Gold rather oddly.

"Vampires?! You have got to be kidding me." Emma said, looking more annoyed than before. "Wait, vampires aren't part of fairytales, even I know that."

"Pray tell, what does that have to do with anything sheriff?" Gold asked, not giving much of an expression. Emma only looked at Gold rather confused.

"You honestly believe that the six newcomers in our town are vampires?" asked Regina.

"As I have already said, I cannot be certain. It is merely a guess and one I do not believe we should take lightly."

"Wait," the prince injected, "why do you think that they are vampires? What do you know?"

"Let's just say that I have a very good hunch." Gold said, giving the others a quick smirk.

"And you're going to let us deal with them on our own?" Emma asked, in a very disbelieving tone. She knew that Gold loved to keep his cards closed and only show them when the others have folded theirs, but she didn't believe that he would actually leave the town to deal with six vampires on their own.

"Now what did I say that would indicate to you that I wouldn't help. I simply believe that we should take caution and not let them know what we know. I suggest we get to know them as simple tourists and, you know, discover their plan along the way." Gold informed, giving another smirk towards the others.

"I think that's a little easier said than done Gold."

"You can always stay hidden in your little castle my dear prince but what good would that really make you? Although I do not believe that they are aware that we know already, I do suspect that one of them, the youngest, is very suspicious of him as I am of him."

"So what do we do?" Emma asked, putting on her 'oh so serious sheriff slash savior' expression on her face.

"Were you even listening or were you too busy letting your ego blind you?" Three, three insults. Emma decided she really hated this man.

"You know what, yo-"

"Hey! Now's not the time Emma," her father interrupted. "I agree with Gold. We just act normal and figure things out along the way. Perhaps they are just here visiting."

"What vampire comes to a small excluded town simply to visit?!" Regina spatted towards the prince. She always felt that being a prince never made the young man any smarter.

Before anyone could continue to argue, Henry came barging into the mayor's office, looking extremely out of breath.

"Henry!" Both Emma and Regina exclaimed. However, it was Regina who quickly questioned her son first.

"Henry, what are you doing here? You should be in school." Henry looked at the four set of eyes that were staring at him rather suspiciously.

"I, uh, I was looking for Grandpa Charming," Henry answered, after catching his breath.

"That does not explain why you are not in school right now."

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up, I promise but I got some news!" he exclaimed.

"What is it Henry?" The prince asked.

"I was in the woods-"

"What were you doing in the woods?"

"-and I saw something. A rabbit."

"A rabbit? Uh, Henry, I don't think-"

"No! Let me finish. It was killed but the way it was killed is why I'm here." Henry quickly added before anyone could interrupt him again.

"What do you mean?" Charming asked.

"That's why I was looking for you. I don't know if it was simply nature doing it's job or if there is some big animal out there. Like a wildcat or something."

"Son, there are no wild animals in Storybrooke. Only the occasional rabbit or fox."

"That's exactly why I'm here! There was no way that a fox mutilated that rabbit."

"Mutilated? How so?" It was Mr. Gold who asked him and Henry was more than happy to inform them. After all, if it was a wildcat that attacked the rabbit, than the town most likely wasn't safe.

After Henry finished describing the rabbit's condition in the forest, he saw how the four adults all looked at each other, as if they had their own little secret.

"What do you all know?" Henry asked, not wanting to be left out again.

"Kid, you need to go back to school, alright?"

"But-"

"No! Get to school, now." Seeing how all the adult, even Mr. Gold, was adamant about him leaving, Henry gave them a look of hurt and turned to leave. Once the boy was gone from the office, the four looked at each other, all sharing a knowing look. No one gave another word as Emma, David, and Gold left the mayor's office, having their final answer as to who the visitors were. Everyone was left with the same thought in their head. _This is not good._

* * *

Mackenzie was pacing on the forest floor as Wren looked on, wondering how he hadn't made a dent in the earth yet. They had all agreed to meet next to the well in the forest earlier that morning and to go over what has happened in the day so far. Wren and Ivanna explained how they came across the old man from the inn that early morning, the same man Aston warned them about. They both explained that the interaction went fairly smooth, until Aston got really worried when the girls explained that they had given the sorcerer their names. Aston mentioned to the group how sorcerer's loved names and could use it against you, but it only made them worry more when Alexei and Vera mentioned that they too had given the sheriff their names. If the sheriff was working with sorcerer, he now had four names. Well, five now. Aston had told them how he accidentally saw the sorcerer in the library. Although he had not given the old man his name, he did give it to the librarian and when Aston realized that they must be a couple, he was certain the man would hear his name from the woman.

Mackenzie almost wished that Aston had informed them of what sorcerer's could use against them, but he knew the boy couldn't be blamed. After all, he was the leader and it was his job to get all the information they needed before they set off. They were suppose to know everything about the town before they entered and it was clear that they had already failed on the first day. When Vlad, the elder vampire, informed them that the soul the vampires needed was in a town called Storybrooke, the only information he had given them was that the town was secluded from the major cities, so if they needed to kill off everyone, they would be able to succeed without worry. Mackenzie worried that perhaps it would be the final plan. He didn't like take part in mass murders, but he was really hoping that they would be able to walk into town, obtain the soul needed, and leave without any trouble. It was clear now that that wasn't going to be the case.

If the sorcerer was able to figure out who they were, he could easily kill them off and they would fail on their mission and everyone back home would die. The existence of the vampire community rested in their hands and they knew that they could not fail. They would leave the town with that pure soul they were after one way or another. Mackenzie would make certain of that. He wasn't quite ready to die yet.

"What about the kid?" Wren asked.

"I'm not certain that the kid is a big issue right now, but we need to keep our eyes out for everyone. Especially the sheriff and that sorcerer." Mackenzie explained.

"We would have one less person to look after if Wren had a bigger dinner last night, than she wouldn't have had to take a snack today. I thought the plan was to feed at night and early morning, that way we wouldn't have to bother during the day?" Vera complained. "You messed up Wren."

"You're one to talk Vera. If I'm not mistaken, you had said that you felt your eyes almost turn red right in front of the sheriff. Talk about messing up." Wren said, carving what appeared to be a rabbit in a tree trunk with her dagger.

"You ran after the kid. He almost saw you. I hope for our sake he thought you were only some wild animal. Not that you are already." Despite her attempts to whisper the insult at the end of her comment, Vera managed to escape the slap Wren threw at her, causing her to slap the tree Vera was previously leaning against.

"Stop it, both of you. We're not going to get anywhere if two keep arguing," said Alexei. "Aston, what do you think we should do? Surely, you have a solution by now."

Aston, who was quiet for the last few minutes, was thinking of a fix up for their many mistakes today. "I feel that we should continue on with our original plan. It's safe to say that the sorcerer clearly knows who we are, however, we need to make sure if the sheriff does too and than we go from there." Aston explained.

"What do we do about the old man?" asked Mackenzie. He might be the leader, but Aston was the strategist.

"If it's okay with you Mackenzie, I would very much like to talk to him myself."

"Are you sure?" Everyone was pretty shocked that he would suggest such a thing, but they also knew that Aston always had a plan. It was always best not to question him too much, or even try to stop him. If they tried, he would only turn around and do whatever he wanted to do anyways.

A quick, sharp nod from Aston showed them that he was certain of his whatever plan he had.

"Very well. Good luck." On that note, the six vampires fled into the woods for their dinner, hoping to fill up on blood more than last night so they wouldn't have another incident like today.

* * *

**Wow, just one of these chapters takes me almost all day. I'm very excited about this story and I am loving where it's going. I'm hoping that in the next chapter, we get to take a look into Aston's new book and more on the vampire's past and exactly why they are there. Please review :)**

_Next time: Rumple meets Aston and Henry meets a new friend._


	4. Chapter 3: New Acquaintances and Friends

******Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Once Upon A Time, they belong to ABC and Adam and Edward, creators. However, I do own the vampires. :) yea, I own vampires, jealous? 

* * *

Rumple hadn't meant for it to happen, however, the thought that had crossed his mind when he left the mayor's office last night had taken his control when he arrived home. Hearing of Henry's description of the dead rabbit he had found in the forest, had confirmed Rumple's belief that the six visitors in the town were indeed vampires. There were currently six vampires with intentions still unknown walking about freely throughout town, the same town that he and Belle were currently living in. What had Rumple worried the most was that Belle had been so close to contact with one of those vampires yesterday in the library. It didn't matter that he was standing beside her when the boy walked up to the counter. What had frightened him was that the boy could have easily attacked Belle when she was alone, leaving her dead body on the floor for the nuns and the children to find when they walked in. That particular image was what scared Rumple to the core when he confirmed his suspicions of the newcomers. So when he arrived home that night, he had not bothered to take much notice when he saw Belle standing at the counter, making dinner. He had barely heard her say hello as he walked towards her before he even spoke a word and began kissing her, hard.

He was pretty sure that he taken Belle by surprise, considering that he always took things slow when they made love. He was always a gentleman with her and never did anything that she didn't want. He was soft, gentle, and always patience when he touched her and she never complained once. So he was quite surprised when he realized that she never tried to stop him when he began attacking her with kisses, leaning her against the counter and roaming his hands all over her body, permission be damned. After the realization of that evening, he needed to know that his Belle was utterly safe in their house and more importantly, in his arms. He knew that he should have asked for permission but the fear that he had felt that day was too strong. He needed Belle and he needed her right then and there. He felt that she must have come to the same realization since she never once uttered a word to make him stop. She only spoke words of want and need, repeating them through the night as he kept thrusting himself in and out of her, speaking her name as if it was a prayer to save his soul. What truly shocked him the most about last night was that when they held onto each other as they let go, Belle had told him that it was a night they should repeat more often. Belle constantly continued to surprise Rumple and it was one of the many things he loved about her.

When he woke up the next morning, he rolled over in the bed to see his Beauty soundly sleeping, the sheets wrapped around each and every curve of her body. A smile fell on his face as he recalled when they had stumbled into bed after their lovemaking in the kitchen, remembering how it was Belle who took charge in the bed. Rumple would be honest and say that for a three hundred year old sorcerer and a woman who was easily one fourth his age, their sex life was pretty amazing. Although age was a subject the whole town silently agreed not to touch, Rumple couldn't help but take the time to wonder how a young vibrant woman like Belle could ever love an old crippled man like him. He sometimes thought that perhaps she had some young and old age complex, though it was a thought that would never leave his mouth. However, he suspected that perhaps he shouldn't question it, she loved him for everything about him and that was what mattered.

Belle's eyes slowly fluttered opened as she felt a kiss being placed on her head, another on her jaw, and noticed how they were slowly making their way down to her throat. She always loved waking up to kisses spread all over her, it was the best way to start the day. She slowly tilted her head so her neck would become more accessible for Rumple, letting out a small moan as he slightly scraped his teeth along her throat. Her hands flew to Rumple's head, crawling at his scalp as she grabbed a handful of his gray hair. She than gave his hair a slight tug, forcing his head up so he could face her, capturing his lips with hers. Their tongues fought for control, each exploring the other's mouth before they were forced to separate, desperate for much needed air. They could see the look of lust and desire shining behind each other's eyes as they pulled apart and simply stared out each other.

"Good morning, my Beauty." Rumple smiled, the lust clear in his voice.

"Good morning, my Beast." Belle replied, giving him one more quick kiss. Although Belle didn't like for Rumple to consider himself a monster, they both knew that her calling him Beast was simply in the honor of their modern world fairytale characters. They also knew that despite the cruelty of the name, in Belle's opinion, it was a name that Rumple has been called throughout his three hundred years as the Dark One. It almost made her sick when she remembered that she herself had once called him 'beast', back in the few nights when she first arrived to the castle. In fact, she could recall the last time she ever called him that name. It was the day he choose to spare Robin and his pregnant wife, an act he still to this day denied. However, Belle knew that a true man of honor, what she knew Rumple to be, would never bring harm onto a pregnant women. It went against their code, and she never knew of a man who truly had the gall to follow through such an act. She loved Rumple for everything he was, even if he could be quite beastly somedays, something he had actually shown last night. A smile crept on her face when she thought over what had occurred during the night. She was indeed shocked at Rumple's actions, however, she could also feel that whatever had caused him to come home and ravish her with love, must have been enough to shake him to the core with fear. She hadn't bothered to ask him after their sessions of love last night, knowing he probably wasn't ready to talk just yet, but morning had come and he had time to sleep and relax. She was curious and wanted to know what she could do to make him feel better, emotionally.

"Rumple?" Belle asked, playing with his hair as he rested his head on her stomach, putting as little weight as he could on her.

"Hm?"

"Do you want to tell me what happened yesterday? What scared you?"

Rumple lifted his head and looked at Belle with worry. "I'm not sure. I'm not sure how to tell you."

"It's okay, Rumple. I'm right here." She placed a hand on his arm as he sat up beside her.

"Belle, I want you to stay with me today. I don't want you to go to the library, okay?" He said, giving her a stern look.

"Rumple, the kids have papers they are working on and the books they need are in the library. I can't-"

"Well they are just going to have to wait because you're staying with me today. The discussion is over." Rumple didn't bother to wait for a respond from Belle as he got up and headed towards the bathroom for his morning shower.

Belle knew Rumple could have a temper and if there was one thing she had learned from her time as his maid back in the Enchanted Forest, it was to never disobey an order Rumple gave. Although he never actually spoke the word 'order', the command was clear in his voice and expression, so Belle knew better than to disobey. She knew that Rumple would let her know what was wrong when he was ready but until then, she would have to wait and after his stern tone just now, she knew not to push.

As Belle got up to get dressed, her mind replayed what had happened a few moments ago. She knew that Rumple was acting demanding because he was protecting her for some reason, but she couldn't help and wonder why she had not fought back a little harder. She was known for having a fiery temper, always standing up for herself, and taking nonsense from no one. However, she knew of the comments the town would whisper behind their backs about their relationship. They were comments not only about their age, but also how some of the citizens saw them as a master and slave. She felt that perhaps it was because he was her master back in the Enchanted Forest, she only wished that they would understand when she kept reminding them that she was never a slave to Rumple. She made sure never to tell them how he had thrown her in the dungeon for the first few nights and the last night she was there, knowing that the whispers would only grow and become more evident. However, Belle was never blind to the moments when he really did act like her master, commanding and ordering her, and when she would obey obediently as a good slave would. Moments like the one that just occurred a few minutes ago.

Belle shook her head to get the thought out of her mind, knowing that they loved each other more than they could breath, and knowing that she shouldn't be thinking about what others felt about them. Rumple always reminded her that they didn't matter in the end and she knew he was right. When she finished getting dressed, she saw Rumple emerge from the bathroom, already dressed in his ever so stunning suit and tie. Belle knew that she would never grow tired of seeing those suits and Rumple in them, or out of them.

"Are you ready Belle?" Rumple asked. Nodding to show that she was, she followed Rumple out the door and into the car, looking out the window as they headed towards town.

* * *

While the others continued to explore the town, keeping an eye out for the pure soul, Mackenzie decided to walk around the creeks to get some fresh air. Being stuck up in that inn with the stench of not one, but two werewolves, was almost more than the vampires could bear. However, they knew that for the sake of the mission, they would have to learn to deal with it. They didn't know how long they would be in this town, but they all felt confident that it wouldn't be for too long. Ivanna, Wren, Alexei, and Vera were walking around town, pretending to shop. When Ivanna and Wren had informed Aston that the old man owned the pawnshop, he decided he would wait for a few hours after feeding before casually stepping inside to take a peek and talk to the sorcerer.

Mackenzie almost didn't allow Aston to go along with this plan, however, he knew that if any one of them should get that close to the sorcerer, it was Aston. They didn't know much of the boy's past, but they did learn that shortly after being turned, a few sorcerers came across Aston hoping to either kill him or turn him into their slaves. Mackenzie wondered if this old man from the inn would try the same move. He would have offered to come along with the boy but if Aston had a plan, Mackenzie knew better than to disturb it. Aston knew that the group was almost always protective of him, so he often made plans to prove to them that he didn't protection. Mackenzie felt that this plan was one of those plans, to prove himself that he wasn't weak and helpless. It wasn't so much that he was weak that the group would become possessive of him, it was because he was the youngest and the most traumatized with being a vampire that they felt he needed the security. Aston was a complicated lad to understand and they couldn't help but see him as a little brother, needing the protection of his older siblings. However, Mackenzie knew that he was a vampire and could take care of himself, so he reluctantly let him go on with his plan to talk to the sorcerer.

Mackenzie's thoughts were interrupted as he kept hearing the sound of what seemed to be rocks hitting the water. As he walked a little further above the bank of the creek, he noticed a young teenager skipping rocks into the creek, or at least he was trying to. The rocks the boy was throwing kept wobbling in the air and couldn't get pass two skips. He quickly noticed how the boy was not throwing rocks for the sake of skipping them, but rather he was throwing them in a somewhat violent manner, as if he was angry about something. Mackenzie decided he would walk down to see what he could do to help.

A useful skill that came with being a vampire was stealth. It was naturally easy for them to sneak up on prey so they could catch the kill easy. Sometimes they didn't even know they were doing it, as in this particular situation. Mackenzie was carefully watching the boy walking along the creek, not realizing how quiet he was being. It wasn't until his foot accidentally kicked one of the rocks did he noticed that the young boy spun around so quick that he had fallen back into the water. Running up in a normal human speed up towards the boy, Mackenzie offered his hand to help the kid up.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. Are you okay?" Mackenzie asked.

"It's okay, I'm fine," the boy said, taking the offered hand, pulling himself up.

"You aren't bleeding are you? I'm sure some of those rocks can be rather sharp." The last thing Mackenzie wanted to do was mess up and kill the boy. He was here to help, not to feed. After all, the boy was innocence and he would never go after a human that was innocence, especially a young child. He saw as the kid checked his body for any scraps or cuts and stated that he had none.

"Good. I'm glad. I would have felt guilty if you got hurt."

"It's okay. I'm a pretty tough kid. I've been through a lot, not much can hurt me," the kid replied.

"Well, you sure sound tough." Mackenzie said, slightly chuckling. "What's your name kid?"

"Henry. Henry Mills."

"Well it's nice to meet you Henry." The vampire stretched out his hand and smiled as Henry grabbed it and shook.

"I couldn't help but notice how you seemed to be upset. I thought you were trying to skip rocks but you were throwing them rather violently. Anything wrong?" Mackenzie asked, sounding as polite as he could.

"I'm just upset with my family. I feel like they are hiding things from me," Henry replied, clearly showing his frustration.

"How so?"

"They use to tell me everything, now, they are acting all secretive and keeps treating me like a kid." Mackenzie gave him a strange look as they started walking along the creek.

"You are a kid."

"I know, but...never mind. It's complicated."

"Surely it can't be _that_ complicated."

"I'm not suppose to talk about it." Henry stated, remembering what his mother had told him yesterday.

"Well, by all means, don't talk about it." The two men both chuckled at the comment.

The two boys walked along the creek for a few more minutes, simply enjoying the presence of the other. They listened to the flow of the water and the clatter of rocks beneath their feet before the vampire spoke up.

"You seem young. Shouldn't you be in school right now?"

"Yeah, but I really don't feel like going. I already know a lot, what good can school do right now?" The younger man asked.

"It could do a lot of good. Don't you want a good job?" Mackenzie asked, curious at the young lad.

"I don't know what I want except for my family to pay attention to me."

"I'm sure your family is still paying attention to you. Perhaps they are not letting you know everything because they are trying to protect you."

"But I don't need protecting." Henry complained. Mackenzie smiled and nodded his head.

"You remind me of someone I know. He's young too and feels the same way. He often does things to prove he doesn't need it."

"What does he do?" Henry asked, showing his curiosity on his face.

"It's complicated." The taller man replied, smiling down at the young boy.

"You know, you're really easy to talk to Mr...I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

"Mackenzie. You can just call me Mackenzie," the vampire replied.

"Can I call you Mac?" Henry asked, showing a smile on his face. Mackenzie gave a light laugh back before replying.

"I rather you didn't."

"Okay." Henry was silent before he noticed how he never saw this man in town before and wondering if he was one of the newcomers. "Hey, are you one of the six visitors from yesterday morning?"

Mackenzie looked at the boy with caution, remembering to be careful with what he said. "I am."

"So why did you decided to come to Storybrooke?"

"Fun," the old man replied, wanting to keep his answer short enough so the boy wouldn't be able to figure much out.

"Oh, well, there's really not much fun around this town. It's really small and not a lot happens here." Henry replied, forcing himself not to think about the truth of the town, worried it would slip his mouth. Although Henry was smart, he was still just a kid and had a habit of talking about things he really shouldn't out loud. Perhaps his mother was right to not talk about the curse out loud.

"I don't know about that. If you have a calmed down a little and had enough time to think, you should head back to school. Give your family some time and remember that you are just a kid, they are just trying to protect you." Mackenzie replied, casting the kid a smile.

"Thanks for listening to me. You didn't have to do that."

"It's okay. I'm glad I could help." They shook hands one last time before Henry went off in the direction of the school as he heard Mackenzie shout out to him a good luck with his family. Henry knew that he should be careful around the newcomers but there was something about Mr. Mackenzie that made him feel safe and wanted. He liked how easy it was to talk to the man and how he actually listened to him, not shrug him off to the side like his family. He knew his parents and grandparents wouldn't like the fact, but Henry knew that he made a new friend.

* * *

It was almost noon and Belle was sitting in the back room of Rumple's shop, reading a book. He had asked her to stay put on the bed as he worked in the front, knowing she would be safe there. Once again, she obeyed like good servant and as Belle sat and read, her mind wondered to the library. Fortunately, when Belle had called Ruby, she was more than happy to watch the library for her and help the students with anything she was able to help with. Ruby was working at her Granny's diner part-time now and would help Belle out at the library whenever she was off work. Belle tried to not go into detail, not that she herself had much, as to why she wasn't able to arrive at the library when Ruby asked, knowing her friend wouldn't like how demanding Rumple was being with her. However, Belle knew that he was only trying to protect her and she had a very strong feeling that it had to do with one of the visitors in town.

Belle decided to stop avoiding the inevitable and got up to walk towards the front of the shop to talk to Rumple. He was going over the record books when he looked back to see Belle walk up to him, placing a hand on his back.

"Aren't you going to tell me what is going on?" she asked. "I know this has to do with the new visitors, I've figured out that much. I want to know why you feel scared."

"Who said I felt scared?" Rumple quickly retorted.

"I know you Rumple. I can tell that something scared you last night and that's why you are acting protective." Belle had to almost force the last word out, realizing she had almost said demanding. She knew Rumple's reaction to that word would probably not be good and considering this morning, she wanted to keep him calm.

"Belle-"

Before Rumple could finish, the door to the shop swung open and they both stared at the visitor that had entered. It was the boy from the library. Although he was acting rather casually, looking around the shop, even Belle was able to tell that he was there for some particular reason.

"Hello Aston." Belle greeted him, not noticing the slight twitch in his eye.

"Hello," the boy greeted back. Before Belle could ask if they could help him with anything, Rumple quickly spoke up, keeping his eyes locked on the guest.

"Belle, why don't you go into the back, read a book." Rumple order. Belle heard the command in his voice and didn't think about hesitating as she turned around to enter the back room, closing the curtains behind her. She knew that Rumple would want some privacy with the boy but she also knew how the curtain did nothing to block out sound. If Rumple wouldn't tell her what was going on, perhaps she could figure it out with the confrontation she felt was coming. She remembered the boy from yesterday and how he was kind and very polite. Belle wasn't sure why Rumple felt that he might be dangerous, but she remained near the entrance, quietly listening to the two men talking.

"I assume you know." Aston spoke towards Rumple, slowly walking up towards the counter he was standing behind.

"Oh, I know dearie. I know very well. However, I do not know why you are here, in this little small town." Rumple replied.

"I guess that is for you to find out." The two men had a quick staring contest before Rumple spoke up, stepping away from the counter and placing himself in the pathway of the back room.

"You seem rather young for someone like you."

"We sometimes are. It all depends." Knowing what the boy was talking about, Rumple gave him an impish smile.

"And I am to assume you know you I am?"

"I know what you are, however, I do not know of you. Though I have a feeling I could easily guess."

Rumple gave a small laugh, leaning on his cane. "Well go ahead, dearie."

Aston gave a small pause, staring at the sorcerer before giving his guess. "Rumplestiltskin."

Belle's head jerked up in the back room as she heard Aston speak his name. She now knew that it didn't matter how polite the boy seemed, if he knew of Rumple's name with him or her telling him, he must be dangerous somehow. However, it didn't necessarily mark him as an enemy just yet.

"I heard of you before and after what I felt yesterday in both the inn and the library, I was certain. Tell me, what is someone of your kind doing here?" Aston asked.

"I believe I asked you first."

"Well like I said, you will have to figure that out on your own. However, I will go ahead and tell you that we don't want to harm the town."

"And I am to believe you?" Rumple questioned.

"You are to trust me. There is only one thing in this town that we want and if we can get it, we will gladly leave without any trouble. I guess it is up to the town and if they to fight back. However, any fight that you bring will most likely be quickly burned out."

"You talk big for someone who has heard of me. Don't you think you are being a tad optimistic?"

"Perhaps. I also know that we are determined and we won't leave until we get what we want."

"Tell me what it is you want and we can give it you. We don't really like visitors in our town and prefer they leave rather quickly," the sorcerer explained.

"Like I have already said, figure it out." Aston replied. He then turned to leave the shop, leaving the sorcerer standing in the middle.

Belle stepped out of the back room, looking very worried as she walked up into Rumple's arms.

"What was all that about?"

"There's no need to worry love. It will be fine. I'll make sure of it." Rumple stated, giving her a kiss.

* * *

Aston had left the shop only a few minutes ago and was now walking through the forest. He was thinking over what had occurred in the pawnshop. He had felt it in the library and now back in the shop with the old man. It was a strong power in the air and it felt as if it was cleansing Aston's soul, filling any hunger that existed. It was hard to fully determined with the sorcerer in the same room, however, for the few minutes that he had in the library, Aston was absolutely certain. He found what they needed. He had found the soul that would save the existence of the vampires. Now he just needed to figure out how to get his hands on it. Aston knew that it would be very difficult with that sorcerer protecting it and wondered if the old man knew what power he had walking freely in his shop. After what he witnessed take place during the conversation, Aston only hoped that things wouldn't get bloody.

* * *

**So I was able to knock half of this out last night and the rest this morning. A few things of note. It was my first time writing anything intimate so I hope I did a good job. Also, I'm not a big fan of the dialogue between Mackenzie and Henry, but that is because the boy is a pain to write. Unfortunately, I have plans for our Truest Believer so he is part of the story. I wasn't able to get to Aston's book or the history of the vampires, but I am pretty certain we will see it in the next chapter. Please review :)**

_Next time: The vampires devise a plan._


	5. Chapter 4: Ancient History

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Once Upon A Time, they belong to ABC and Adam and Edward, creators. However, I do own the vampires. :) yea, I own vampires, jealous?

**A/N: This chapter focuses on the vampires but it is loaded with information about the soul they need, why they need it, a little of Aston's past, and more. So it does not have any of the OUAT characters in it but it is very important. :)**

* * *

It was almost midnight on Wednesday and the vampires were once again meeting at the well in the forest. They had finished their meal for the night and were ready to begin their discussions. Aston had informed the group of his meeting earlier that day with the sorcerer and no one quite knew how to take it. They all safely assumed that the sorcerer already knew who they were, they just didn't except Aston to be so forthright with his conversation. They had thought that Aston would remain casual and appear normal, not converse in a near dispute with the old man. It was clear to say that everyone was quite shocked when Aston replayed the conversation. It wasn't like him to be so rash, even if they knew he always had a plan. However, he had mentioned that it was better to go ahead and have everything out in the open with the old man, the longer they played games, the longer their mission would be and the harder it would be to complete it. Fortunately, Aston was wise enough to not necessarily mention what they wanted, otherwise, they knew the pawnshop owner would do everything in his magic to protect it. Alexei believed that the crippled man should just give them what they wanted so they could leave, however Aston had explained to the group why that scenario would never occur.

"Are you positive it was the woman?" Wren asked, carving some animal out of a wood stick.

"I will bet you the rest of my meals for the mission that the woman in the library and the pawnshop is the soul we need." Aston replied, sending Wren a daring smile.

"Let's not be too rash. Just explain to us exactly how you felt." The leader replied.

"I wasn't sure why but when I saw her in the streets, there was something about her that had me drawn to her. So, I followed her into the library. The moment I stepped into the library and saw her, I instantly felt...cleansed. I felt the same thing when I saw her in the pawnshop." explained Aston. "It was as if the darkness in me was being thrown back and I felt a little more alive."

"If it is really her, the only problem is the man." Alexei stated, leaning against the well with his sister sitting by his legs.

"We need to get rid of him." Wren quickly replied.

"No. Even I know that's a very stupid plan. Did you not hear Aston when he explained the woman and the sorcerer's relationship? How he was acting protective? If we try to get rid of him, he would only attack. Even you can't afford that."

"Do you have any other plans to get to the soul, Vera?"

"It's just like hunting. We have to run her off alone into a corner. That way, the old man won't be there to protect her and she can't run."

"You two haven't dealt with a sorcerer like Aston has, I don't think you would be able to manage to fight him. Not to mention he is the Dark One." Mackenzie stated.

"But we're not fighting him, we're catching her."

"Hey, we need to go about this carefully. We know that we are up against the very powerful Dark One and according to Aston, he is very protective of the woman. We need to take the time we have to go about this delicately. Right Mackenzie?" Ivanna said, almost pouting when Mackenzie ignored her.

"Why don't we get ready for tomorrow and I will see if I can talk to the woman alone. We can't be too quick about this, we need the most information we can get. We wouldn't be having to deal with the sorcerer if we had all the right information to begin with. We learn everything first and than attack. We'll meet up again tomorrow. Be careful." The vampires than left back to the inn, with the exception of Aston, who stayed behind at the well. The others gave him a quick look before continuing on, knowing how he often liked to be left alone so he could think, and they knew Wren and Vera's arguing wouldn't help him.

Aston hadn't moved from his spot during the meeting, sitting on a tree stump with his legs crossed and his new book laying his lap. His eyes stared down at the cover of the book, however, Aston was not looking at the book. His mind was too far off to really look at the shiny red bat. He was thinking back to before they had arrived in Storybrooke, wondering what would happen if they were to fail.

* * *

_It was pitch dark in the abandoned castle, with only the moonlight shining through the dusty windows. The castle that the clan of vampires lived in was rather cliche, but it always felt right to them. The castle was built of grey stone, showing the years that had beaten down on the walls. The curtains on the windows were battered and torn, with blood sprayed across every few window pane, showing where some meals were taking. There wasn't much furniture occupying the castle since the they never really cared about comfort, only blood. It was near a full moon when the elder vampires called a meeting to discuss the future. The room for the meeting was a rather simple square room, utterly bare of any furniture and the only detail noticeable about the room was the two feet deep circular pit that laid in the middle of the room. Inside the pit was where some leftover bodies were thrown inside, waiting to be burned. The seventy something vampires that resided in the castle were spread throughout the room, taking their own spot and giving off the presence of their natural nature, creatures of the night._

_The vampire that called for the meeting, Vlad, was leaning against the window with his arms crossed and his shoulder long pitch black hair placed in a ponytail. He was one of the elder vampires, having lived the longest next to Igor and Xavier, and was often considered as the ruler. Vlad had a few years less on the other elder vampires but he was certainly the wisest. The others often felt that he was born to become a vampire, he and his family were naturals at the lifestyle. One of the abilities Vlad was born with as a human was the ability to see the future, which only enhanced when he was turned. The vision he had recently seen had caused him to call upon the meeting, hoping to save their race. _

_"The town is called Storybrooke and in that town resides the soul that we need." Vlad spoke in his rigid harsh voice._

_"Are you certain about this, Vlad?" asked Xavier. They have been searching for years to find a way to save their race, to stop the darkness growing in them._

_"Yes. The soul is quite powerful and if turned-"_

_"If turned, the soul would no longer be useful. Shouldn't we keep it as a human?" Alexei asked, who was sitting around the circle of the pit with Vera leaning against his back._

_"Don't underestimate the power of purity. Light is more powerful than you believe." Mackenzie spoke. He had been told that he needed to gather a team to travel to the small town and retrieve the soul and bring it back. As he looked around the room searching for his team, he noticed Aston sitting on the ledge of one of the arched windows high in the room. _

_"Aston, what do you think of this?" he asked._

_All eyes in the room turned towards Aston, curious of his thoughts of this plan. He remained silent for a few moments, looking out the window to the moon before he spoke up. _

_"Do we really have any other choice?" Aston didn't have to explain what he meant, everyone knew the price they would pay if this soul was not retrieved. They would all die._

* * *

It was another hour before Aston returned to the inn via the window. When he entered, he saw that Mackenzie was resting on the bed. It was well know that vampires never slept so with all the time they had during the night, it was hard for them to find things to occupy themselves. Mackenzie was resting his body while Alexei was watching the television. He had it tuned on more for the background noise rather than actually caring what was going on. However, he did often like to watch cartoons when ever he had the chance, so it wasn't surprising to Aston when he heard the sound of a cat and mouse chasing each other on the screen. He could easily hear the girls in the next room, arguing once again before laughing like they were the best of friends.

Aston decided to sit on the empty bed Mackenzie didn't take. Blocking out the television, he opened the book and placed it in his lap, scanning the pages. What he liked about books were that the ones you often believed were utterly fiction, were the ones that often held the most truth. The book he checked out was written by an author he knew of very well, Mac Fa Luridly. It is known that authors often create a pen name to hide their true identity and it was obvious that Mac Fa Luridly was just that, a pen name. However, if someone was clever enough to unscramble the words, they would find that Mac Fa Luridly spelled out the name Family Dracul. For anyone who knew history, they would know that the name Dracul was the surname of the infamous Vlad the Third. The man that inspired Bram Stoker's famous Dracula.

History believed that Vlad was killed in battle and his head was severed to show that the terrible impaler was finally dead. What history didn't know was that as a vampire, one's body was able to reattach itself if separated. During his life, Vlad was turned and became a vampire a few years before he was decapitated. After reattaching himself he ran off and disappeared into the night, never returning. He shortly met others like him and helped create a community of vampires, the same one that Aston and the others currently resided in.

After being turned, Vlad had written a book on the history of vampires that he had learned. Since he was the author, he had his own copy with him and Aston had read the book many times. The book that he held in his lap was a copy of the original. However, he knew that the book back home had a few pages missing and he hoped that the copy he found in the library would hold those pages. He was right. After a few minutes of reading the missing pages, his mind was whirling with the new information, finally understanding how this woman's soul would save their existence. Aston couldn't help but laugh in his head at the irony of the whole situation. The vampires, creatures of darkness, were dying and the key to their survival was light. Aston now knew that this woman he had encountered was the embodiment of light. Her soul was as pure as one could get and Aston found himself fighting for self-control. He couldn't have her, not now, but soon. He had to wait. He laid back onto the bed, thinking about the librarian and how she was so much like _her_. He remembered her very well and Aston could never forget, even if he wanted to.

* * *

Aston always fed on animals. He couldn't bare to take the life of a human, no matter how innocent or guilty they were. Even when he drained the life of a rabbit or deer, he could still feel the thickness of his first victim's neck and hear her cry as he took her life. It was a night he would never forget. The first night he became a vampire and the first night he ever took a life. He was only sixteen that year and he was the sweetest boy you would find in his village. He was kind, smart, and polite, always the gentlemen. He was as humane as one could get and couldn't imagine taking any life. So when he was turned from a random vampire and took his first sip of blood, the horror was too much for his mind to handle. It clouded his mind and fogged over his eyes. Every time he fed, he still heard the scream of that poor girl.

Her name was Kallea, greek for beauty, and she was. She had brown curls, framing her heart-shaped face that held light blue eyes. She truly was beautiful, beautiful and pure. Every man in the village loved her and no one could blame them. She was smart, beautiful, loving, and downright amazing. She never saw evil in anyone and always gave up her own needs to save the life of some poor injured animal, or person.

She was his first and only victim. When he drained her blood, she screamed so loud it nearly shattered his soul and he wished everyday that it did. He had tried multiple times to kill himself but always failed. Not because it was impossible but because he was afraid. He was afraid to die but what truly stopped him was the image of Kallea. The beauty of her soul gave him strength that perhaps one day, he could be saved. That the darkness in him would vanish.

Aston knew that this woman, the librarian, was the key. Not only to save the other vampires, but to save his own soul. He didn't care if he died in the process, he wanted her. Needed her. Needed to taste her blood just once, hoping that her soul would purify him and save him from this fate. Aston spent the rest of the night with the image of Kallea and the librarian in his mind, praying for salvation.

* * *

It wasn't long before the sun rose again and Aston had to place the pillow over his eyes. He knew the sun couldn't kill them but it didn't mean it wasn't bothersome. The act of killing vampires had been fabricated over time and stories, by using sunlight, fire, stakes, or even silver bullets. Vampires are known to be creatures of night so it would make sense for the sun to destroy them. However, that wasn't the case. The truth was that they were creatures of darkness. They, like the Dark One, were creatures born from pure darkness. However, over time that power began to grow in the vampires, overwhelming them and causing them to become sick. The darkness they were born from was killing them. To live, they needed light.

Aston thought over the missing pages he read during the night. It had talked about the beginning of light and dark. The world needed balance, that was well known. So when darkness was created, a soul was born every so many years to balance things out. A soul so pure that just one drop of its blood would give a dark creature enough light to keep it alive for many more years, just not forever. When they had left, Vlad did not give them a lot of information about the soul. In fact, all he had told them was where to find it, never letting them know how the soul would save them. Now, after what he read, Aston knew. He just wasn't sure if he liked it.

* * *

It was almost ten in the morning on Thursday and Aston had finished explaining to the group what he had read the night before. They finally understood everything. They understood how important this soul really was and why they needed to turn it. Now, all they had to do was create a plan to catch the prey.

"I've already told you guys last night. We corner the woman and than take her." Vera said.

"I want to talk to her first, see what I can find out. Maybe we don't have to force her." said Mackenzie. Ivanna only looked at him with disbelief.

"You honestly believe that she will let us turn her just to save the race of vampires? I'm sure even she's not that pure. She does have her own mind."

"Listen, I don't want to be rash about this. We might be vampires but we don't have to act so damn inhumane."

"So I understand that her soul's purity can keep the darkness from killing us with just a drop of blood. Just not forever, right?" Alexei asked, still a little confused.

"Exactly. That's why we need to turn her into a vampire. So she can live forever with us and keep us alive." Vera explained, sounding a little proud of the whole situation.

"Sounds like an eternal feast to me." Wren smiled.

"She won't agree to it. Let's just take her by force."

"You stay away from her Ivanna." Mackenzie ordered. "We must be patience. Just let me talk to her." Ivanna crossed her arms, showing her impatience and distaste for the idea. Ivanna was starting to get upset at the fact that Mackenzie never paid attention to her. Because of her beauty, Ivanna was use to many males swooning over her. Although Mackenzie did find her beautiful, she knew that he always ignored her, never paying her the attention she believed she deserved from him. She was trying really hard to win his affection, not caring about any other male, so constantly being ignored by her crush was burning her.

The vampires agreed to stay away from the women Aston informed them of while Mackenzie found a way to talk to her alone. Meanwhile, Alexei and Vera agreed to talk to the sheriff about what she knew. If the woman was in partnership with the sorcerer, they would only have more trouble to deal with.

* * *

**Okay, I am done with this chapter. I know it's not long but you have no idea how difficult this was for me. It was an utter pain to write. Trying to get all this information to make sense and work well together was not easy. If you have any question, do not hesitate to PM me for an explanation if you didn't understand it. Please review :)**

_Next time: Belle tries to prod the truth out of Rumple and meets Mackenzie. Ivanna feels the effects of the darkness and runs into an enemy. _


	6. Chapter 5: Truths Revealed

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Once Upon A Time, they belong to ABC and Adam and Edward, creators. However, I do own the vampires. :) yea, I own vampires, jealous?

**A/N: This is rated M for a reason so read at your risk. I'm not responsible for any issue you may have with this chapter.**

* * *

Belle was getting frustrated. Rumple had hardly spoke to her last night. After the visit from Aston in the shop yesterday evening, Rumple wouldn't tell her anything. At the shop, he constantly tried to change the subject or simply ignore her until they closed up. Once they got home, he went about with dinner as if the visit had never happened and continued to either change the flow of conversation or ignore her. Belle wasn't going to have anymore of it today. She wanted to know and she felt she had the right to know. If this boy Aston was dangerous, she should know why. Belle than realized how close she was to Aston at the library a few days ago and figured that was why Rumple ordered her to stay with him yesterday. It made sense, now she just needed to know why those visitors were so dangerous and who they were. She just had to get Rumple to talk to her.

The next morning, Belle had woken up to see Rumple already dressed and making breakfast. She made her way towards the kitchen, still dressed in her light blue nightgown from last night. She leaned back against the counter as Rumple placed the two plates of breakfast onto the table.

"So, are you going to talk to me this morning?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Good morning to you too love."

"Rumple, please. Talk to me."

"There's noting to tell you, Belle." Rumple said, pulling out one of the chairs. "You should eat."

"No. I want to know what is going on."

"Belle-" Rumple began to say. He watched her for a few seconds before quietly sitting down and begin eating his breakfast. Belle only walked to the table, taking his plate and placing it onto the counter. She looked back at Rumple with an adamant expression, determine to make him talk.

"I deserve to know what is happening. I overheard you and the boy Aston talking yesterday and it's clear that he is dangerous. I want to know why. Why is he and the other visitors dangerous? What aren't you telling me?" Belle asked in a sharp tone of voice. When he only stared back at her, Belle had reached her limit of her tolerance for his silence and turned to leave the room without giving another word. _If he doesn't want to talk to me, fine. I won't talk to him._ She knew it was childish but she didn't know how else to go about it if he was going to behave that way.

Before she could pass through the kitchen door, ready to slam it behind her, she felt herself being spun around and Rumple's lips smashing against hers. One of his arms was wrapped possessively around her waist while the other held the back of her head. His mouth moved against hers, urging her to kiss him back. The second she returned the kiss, he drove his tongue into her mouth. They fought for control, Rumple quickly winning. She felt his hands grab her curved waist as he slowly turned her, pushing her against the doorway. Belle moaned against his mouth as Rumple lifted her legs, wrapping them around his slim waist. He used the weight of his body to press her against the frame of the door to support her, his hands pushing up the edge of her nightgown above her waist. Within seconds of Rumple's quick and passionate act, Belle was already getting wet. He could feel her juices through her underwear as he pressed into her body, noticing his pants tighten with pleasure as she continued to moan against their kiss.

Belle quickly brought her hands up to his hair, grabbing a handful and slightly tugging his head backwards. They broke their kiss as Belle brought her lips down onto his neck, kissing every inch of skin she came in contact with. She squeezed her legs around his waist, pulling herself closer to him as he moaned her name into her neck. Rumple brought his hands down behind Belle, cupping them around the cheeks of her perfect ass. He lifted her slightly as he carried her across the short distance to the counter, using magic to steady his damned leg. He gently laid her on top of the counter, her legs still wrapped around him, and noticing the disappoint in her eyes as her mouth escaped his neck. They were quickly filled with lust as he pulled her nightgown up even further on her, revealing her stomach. Rumple placed his lips onto her skin, placing kisses everywhere he could find. His pants tightened a little more as he heard Belle let out a whimper from his kisses' light touch on her skin, her whimper telling him she only wanted more. She wanted him to touch her more, kiss her more, and he loved how it was him who was making her feel this way.

Once he finished placing one last kiss right below her navel, he leaned forward and placed one more on her lips. He then pulled her up and placed her back down onto the floor, ignoring his own problem in his pants. He hugged Belle, needing to know that she was safe, in his arms.

Returning the hug, Belle thought back to what had just occurred. This morning would make it the second time in one week that Rumple quickly ravished her without any explanation. She knew that it had to do with the six visitors, beginning to feel happy that they arrived if it continued to cause Rumple to act this way. However, she was still determined to get Rumple to tell her what he knew but she decided it could wait. With what had just transpired, she knew that her boyfriend was not ready to talk about what he knew, but she would be there when he was. Despite how much she wanted to know, she knew what short temper Rumple often had when he was pushed to do something he didn't want to do. She loved him but she wasn't foolish, just foolishly in love with him.

Letting each other leave their arms, Rumple smiled as Belle. When she looked into his eyes, she could see not lust, but love. She also saw how he almost seemed lost and scared, though she knew he would deny that notion.

"Will you please stay with me again today?" Belle smiled, although he was being protective, she loved how he had asked her nicely.

"Yes. However, I won't push you but I really feel that I should know what is happening. Will you please talk to me sometime today?" she asked, watching Rumple's mouth form a thin line.

"Very well. Why don't you eat breakfast and then get dressed."

"Are we going to the shop today?"

"No. I thought we could spend our day at the library. Besides, don't the kids need you?" Rumple's kindness was rewarded with Belle kissing him once again. Finishing her breakfast, she left upstairs to dress for the day.

* * *

Ivanna couldn't take it anymore. She hated it. Mackenzie was now downright ignoring her. Wren had told her that he couldn't take all her flirting and that she was being clingy goody two-shoes towards him. Always sucking up to him, no pun intended. She couldn't help it. Because of her beauty, she was use to men being all over. She knew very well that she was the most beautiful vampire ever and she knew that Mackenzie knew it too. _So why is he ignoring me?! All I want is for him to be mine but he just keeps on ignoring me!_ Suddenly, Ivanna fell onto the forest floor in utter pain. It took all of her self-control to keep her from screaming aloud. For a moment, she wasn't sure what was happening to her, then she realized. It was the darkness.

Because vampires were created from darkness, they lived in darkness. Not just physically away from the sun but their soul was surrounded by darkness as well. However, over the past few years, the darkness in their soul were starting to spread like a disease, an illness that was killing them. Slowly. They could prevent it from spreading however. All they had to do was control themselves. Control their urges of blood and sin. The more they sinned, the more the darkness in their soul grew, overpowering and destroying them.

Ivanna didn't understand though _why_ the darkness was growing in her at the moment. _All I wanted was Mackenzie to be my boyfriend, is that so wrong?_ Her head flew back in shock as the pain spread throughout her body once more. The darkness was becoming unbearable. Ivanna realized now why it was growing. The darkness in her soul was growing because she was letting it, by letting her jealous consume her. She wasn't controlling her obsessing for wanting Mackenzie. She was allowing the darkness to grow as she let her hatred for Mackenzie ignoring her grow. If she didn't stop thinking about him at the moment, she would die. But she couldn't stop, she _had_ to have him. She was the most beautiful vampire, he belonged with her. _I had to have him. _Pain shot through her once again, nearly throwing her backward into a tree.

Suddenly, her head snapped up towards the bushes. She was sure she heard it. A growl. A growl she had heard before in her past, and the stench she smelled told her where the growl was coming from. With her vampire speed, she flew back as the animal leaped from the bushes, attacking her.

* * *

Belle would be honest and say that she was very impressed with Rumple today. He had decided they would stay at the library instead of the shop, he had taken her out to lunch, and even helped her around the library. He was being amazing, and she wanted to know why. She loved all the little things he did for her, the best little thing he ever did for her was give her not one but two libraries. He would hold her hand, give her flowers, random kisses, and as of late, ravish her without any reasons. Belle knew that she shouldn't be complaining, but she also knew Rumple and that everything he did had some underlying meaning to it. Despite how wonderful of a boyfriend he was being today, he still had yet to tell her what he knew. She knew better than to push, especially after this morning, so she decided she would wait and see what today brought.

It was almost two in the afternoon and the children were sitting at the library desk, looking through books and working on their papers. Belle was sitting at the circulation desk and watching as the fairies, or the nuns, were walking around overlooking the students' work. Rumple had left the library about thirty minutes ago to take a quick look in the shop. If Belle wasn't surprised already today, him leaving her alone definitely did the trick. He explained to her that the many kisses he placed on her stomach earlier that morning were protection spells that would keep her safe for the few minutes he was gone from her. Yes, Belle was definitely surprised and she knew that the day wasn't over yet. She could easily expect more surprises from him. She definitely had to know what he knew now.

When the clock hit two, Belle watched as the nuns and children packed up and left back to the school, taking the books they had recently checked out. She smiled and waved to the kids as they said their goodbyes. Once everyone was gone, she found herself alone in the library, looking over the list of books the children would need in the future. She got halfway through the list when the doors swung open. She turned her head with a smile of her face.

"Rumple, I thou-" Her smile quickly vanished when she saw that it wasn't her Rumple at the door but rather one of the visitors, one that she hasn't met yet.

"Hi. I'm Mackenzie." He said, slowly walking up to the table.

* * *

Being constantly thrown against the trees and rocks were quickly wearing her out. She might be a vampire but she was known for her tracking skills, not her strength. Ivanna quickly moved on her feet to dodge the attack from the animal, only to find herself being thrown once again against a tree or rock. _Enough! No more dodging, time for attack!_

Ivanna pushed hard against the forest floor and lunged towards the animal, ready to rip it's throat out. Just as quickly as she moved, the animal changed. Right as Ivanna's hand reached towards the throat, she realized that it was no longer an animal but rather a woman. She quickly pulled her hand away and stepped back, giving her mind time to process what had just happened. Ivanna looked towards the woman, taking her appearance in. She had long brown hair, brown eyes, jeans and a shirt with a jacket, and Ivanna knew this woman from somewhere. She just wasn't sure exactly where. As the woman helped herself off the floor, Ivanna got a quick whiff of her and growled. Now she knew and she wasn't going to wait for any explanation. Ivanna lunged towards the woman before being thrown back, once again. However, it was from a much stronger force than she knew the woman could bring.

Rocks flew around Ivanna as the boulder she fell back into exploded into many pieces. This time, she screamed.

"Are you okay?" The woman asked, running up towards the vampire to help her up.

"Why do you care?!" Ivanna cried out, pushing the woman's offered hand aside.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I just-"

"Oh shut up!" Ivanna could feel the darkness growing.

"Let me explain."

"I don't care about your explanation. Why did you attack me wolf?"

"I thought you didn't care about my explanation?" Ivanna stared at the woman who now had a smug expression on her face. Without giving another word, Ivanna turned on her heels and walked away.

"Hey, wait!" The woman called out. "Why are you here?"

Ivanna looked back at the woman and walked up to her. "Why do you care?"

"I care because there are people in this town that I care about a lot and I will protect them, you vampire."

"So you know."

"Of course I know! I am a werewolf after all. My name is Ruby."

"I know. I could smell you and your grandmother the first day we arrived. As to why we are here, you don't need to know." Ivanna paused and stared at Ruby. "Why did you try to help me up?"

"What?"

"Why did you try to help me? You're a werewolf and I'm a vampire. Why did you try to help me?"

"Cause I don't like being a werewolf. Especially today." Ivanna stared at Ruby. She definitely found the woman strange, aside from her being a werewolf. She knew that they should be enemies, but they was something about Ruby she couldn't quite place. Before she could stop herself, Ivanna began in a friendly conversation with her natural enemy, something she never believed she would ever do. She suddenly felt the darkness in her subside, making her feel free.

* * *

"I won't hurt you."

Mackenzie was holding his hands up in front of him, seeing how the woman was clearly nervous around him. Belle was looking between the exit behind her and the visitor.

"My boyfriend says otherwise."

"Your boyfriend? The sorcerer?"

"How do you and Aston know of Rumple?" Belle asked. If she couldn't get answers from Rumple, maybe she could from this man. She knew Rumple wouldn't be happy with her but Belle has always been the curious type and it always got the best of her.

"He didn't tell you?"

"He's not talking to me much since you and your friends arrived. Who are you people? I want to know."

"I just want to talk to you. I won't hurt you, I promise."

"Than talk." Belle wasn't the demanding type, except with Rumple, but she hated being ignored. She always felt ignored when she grew up. All the other kids in her town would leave her alone and even her father didn't pay much attention to her. Things didn't improve much as she grew older, until Rumple came and made a deal for her. Things got worse when he kicked her out, and then being held in a dungeon and a cell for thirty years, being ignored once again. She wasn't going to be ignored from this man.

"I just wanted to get to know you."

"Why?" Belle asked, showing the confusion in her face. This was worse than being ignored. Every time someone was interested in her, she was only a pawn in their game. Even when she first met Rumple, she was only part of a deal.

"Aston didn't really tell us much about you-"

"Why are you so interested in me?" Mackenzie only looked at Belle before walking to one of the tables and pulling out a chair to sit down. He leaned forward with his hands clasped and looked at her.

"Do you believe in vampires?"

Belle's ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton. It all made sense now. The book Aston checked out, Rumple's possessive behavior, his encounter with Aston, everything. Despite everything, it actually wasn't much of a surprise. They were vampires and if they were interested in her, it clearly wasn't a good sign. _Rumple has protection spells on me. Surely he wouldn't try anything right now, even if he just wants to talk. _Belle thought, more nervous than before.

"Maybe."

"I think you do. You seem to be a smart woman. I don't know you but I can sense that much, among other things."

That didn't make her feel any safer. Belle had read many books on vampires and she knew what they could sense. Belle forced herself to try and remain calm until Rumple got back. _Where is he?_

"I already told you that I don't want to hurt you."

"What else would you want with me?"

"Just to talk."

"About what?" asked Belle. She was really starting to get frustrated with this man.

"You. And us."

"There is no us."

"I meant us as in me and my friends, as vampires. Our history." Belle had read many history books before and even some on vampires. She was curious to hear it from an actual vampire. She sighed, ready to listen. She could hear Rumple's voice in her head as he once told her that her curiosity was literally going to get her killed someday. _I should have listened._

"We're dying." For what might have been the seventh time today, Belle was surprised. "Vampires are starting to die but luckily, there is a source of power that can keep us alive."

"Let me guess. That source is me." She almost felt sick as Mackenzie smiled at her.

"You really are smart. And pure."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You being pure has everything to do with us dying."

"I have read many books in my life, from science to history and fiction. Vampires are immortal beings that can't die." Belle explained.

"Actually, immortality doesn't mean that you can never die. It just means that you can live forever, if you're careful. Everyone dies, even your boyfriend." Before he could continue, Belle straightened her shoulders, showing her bravery and determination.

"That's another thing. _How_ do you know of Rumple?" Belle asked, not bothering to speak his full name. She knew that little trick didn't work in Storybrooke.

"What immortal dark creature _hasn't_ heard of the beastly Dark One?" Mackenzie asked, ignoring Belle's comment of Rumple not being a beast.

"How are you dying?"

"Well, that's a little complicated. All you need to know is that you can save us."

"Why would I?"

"Because you're pure." Mackenzie replied.

"That gives her no reason to save you." Both Belle and Mackenzie's head turned towards the new voice. It was Rumple, and Mackenzie and Belle were thinking of the same thing. How long was he there and what all did he hear?

"And it strengthens my determination to protect her from you fiends." Rumple walked up to stand between the circulation desk Belle was hiding behind and the chair Mackenzie was occupying.

"Just as I told her, I don't want to hurt her."

"Not yet perhaps, but you will. You can't stop yourself. It's in your nature." The three remained in silence as Rumple and the vampire engaged in a standoff, wondering who will attack first. Rumple took a deep breath.

"What do you need from Belle to help save you?"

Mackenzie than pulled out a book, a book Belle and Rumple both recognized as the book Aston had checked out a few days ago. "I swiped this from my friend. He doesn't need it anymore, he already read the book multiple times. If you read it, you will learn how your girlfriend can save us." He stood up and walked over to hand the book to Rumple, smiling as he took it. "However, it's her choice. I'm not one for forcing people to do what they don't want to do."

"You may not force her, but your friends certainly will."

"You let me deal with my friends. I just want you two to learn the truth and know that I'm not ready to die just yet."

"So you need the life of an innocent women to keep yourself alive. Even I'm not that..._beastly_." Rumple said, smirking and squinting his eyes at the vampire at the last word. Mackenzie gave no other word before walking out of the library, leaving the sorcerer and his girlfriend.

A few minutes passed as Rumple braced himself before Belle called him out.

"How long have you known, Rumple?"

He sighed before turning to answer her. "I wasn't sure when I first met them. However, my suspicions were confirmed when Emma explained her encounter with a few of them."

"Is she okay?" Rumple could only smile at his True Love. Even after learning of how much danger she was in, she still cared about someone else. She truly was pure.

"She's fine. No harm came to her."

"Them being vampires is why you ordered me to stay with you yesterday, isn't it?" Belle asked. She quickly felt bad when she saw him slightly flinch at the word 'order'.

"Yes, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so demanding-"

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Belle." The two looked as each other before he walked up towards her, grabbing her in his arms. Her shoulders relaxed as he wrapped his arms around her, embracing her into a hug. She felt him place a kiss on her head as he spoke her name as if it was a pray. He always told her that she made _him_ strong, but what had just happened, she suddenly felt that she needed him to be _her_ strength. For perhaps the first time in her life, despite her bravery, Belle was very scared.

* * *

**Sorry this took so long to get out. I spent the last few days with my niece and nephew. Yesterday, I spent my day on this chapter but constantly kept getting sidetracked so I didn't get much done. Sorry. :( I am hoping to do better this weekend. Please review. :)**

_Next time: Ruby and Ivanna talk. Belle deals with her feelings about the truth._


	7. Chapter 6: Dealing

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Once Upon A Time, they belong to ABC and Adam and Edward, creators. However, I do own the vampires. :)

* * *

Belle wasn't sure how to take what had happened in the library that afternoon. They had just arrived home a few minutes ago and Rumple sat on the couch to read the book Mackenzie had given them. Although it wasn't a thick book, he used magic to scan the information into his mind to save time. A trick he found very useful. After Belle hung up her jacket, she heard the book slam shut and saw as he threw the book onto the coffee table.

"Hey. Careful with it." Belle said, trying not to scold him for his mistreatment towards the book. "I know you are upset but you don't have to punish the book." She walked over to sit beside him and placed her hand on his arm.

"What was in the book?" Belle asked.

"The truth." He replied, with a curt tone of voice.

"What was the truth?" She sighed as he stood up and headed up towards the bedroom. Belle couldn't help but notice how he had not been using his cane lately, she figured he was using magic to steady it. "You know, if you constantly use magic for your leg, you'll only wear yourself out."

"I'll deal with that."

"Rumple." Belle sighed once more as she stood up and followed Rumple. "Nothing's going to happen."

"Belle, they are vampires. Even _I_ don't want to deal with them. They can't control their bloodlust."

"Well it looked like Mackenzie and Aston both were doing a good job with that when they saw me." Belle stated, hoping to calm him down even a little.

"That doesn't really matter, Belle." Once he entered their bedroom, he sat down on the edge of the bed. Belle only stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe and watching Rumple as he placed his head in his hands.

"Belle, they are determined to have you. Despite how humane he might have acted, I could see that much in his eyes. From my interaction with that boy Aston a few days ago proved the same thing. They want you and they are going to do whatever they can to get their bloody hands on you." Rumple explained, not understanding how Belle was acting oddly calm about this.

"I understand Rumple. I also understand that you won't let anything hurt me, not even you." She replied, walking over and sitting next to him.

"Exactly. Which is why you are not leaving the house."

"Rumple, you can't-"

"I can and I will. Belle, I'm not losing you."

"But keeping me as a prisoner?" Rumple opened his mouth to speak before he quickly closed it, seeing the hurt look in her eyes.

"Belle, I'm not trying to keep you as a prisoner. I just want you safe while the vampires are here. You are free to leave the house when I make sure they leave."

"You just said that even _you_ didn't want to deal with them."

"I don't want to, but I will. For you."

"I'm asking you to. You are choosing to be stupid." Belle complained, walking to leave the room. Before she could reach the door, it had slammed shut on her. She looked back towards Rumple to see him watching her. She then walked to the door to pull on the handle to find it locked with magic. She sighed and turned back around to face Rumple.

"You can't keep me here."

"Wanna bet?" Belle gave no reply, knowing he could easily keep her locked in their house, even if it was for her own safety. She remembered how she escaped the house the first time, shortly after the curse was broken and looked towards the windows. She only sighed, knowing that he would lock the windows shut as well, so that exit wasn't an option again.

He walked up to her, backing her against the door and placing his hands on the wood with her head in between. She loved Rumple and knew how over-protective he could be. Considering their history together, she couldn't really blame him. Whenever he started to act this way, possessive and demanding, she had to remind herself that she _was_ his prisoner and maid when they first met, she was use to this behavior.

"I lost you one too many times. I _will not_ lose you again. Understand?" He said, emphasizing his words to make sure his message got through to Belle, knowing how she would often let her stubbornness cause her to act foolish.

Belle sighed and leaned forward to place a kiss on his lips, showing him she understood.

"Can I be honest with you?" She asked.

"Oh Belle, always."

"I am scared, but I also know you will protect me."

"Always." Rumple smiled.

"Why do they need me?"

"You don't need to know." He said, unlocking the door so she would have at least the whole house to roam through.

"I'm involved, of course I need to know."

"Belle, it doesn't matter wether you know or not because I won't let it happen. Now, the house has plenty of protections wards around it and only people I allow can come through. Plus the protection spells I've placed on you this morning. You will be safe here, okay?" Rumple explained, placing his hands on her hips.

"Okay. But don't you think that is a little overboard?" Belle asked, slightly chuckling.

"Never." He smiled, kissing her once again.

* * *

"So let me get this straight, you are a werewolf, a child of the moon. However, today was the first time you ever changed without the moon?" Ivanna asked Ruby. They had been talking in the woods for the last few hours, as if they were best friends. Both forgetting that they were suppose to be enemies as they simply walked through the trees.

"Yes. I hate it. I already hate being a werewolf, but not having control over it? It sucks, I just learned how to control myself during the full moon not long ago." Ivanna could easily sympathize with Ruby. Controlling one's bloodlust was extremely hard for any vampire, but it would often improve with time. She knew that no one liked feeling helpless, it is everyone's nature to fight for control. Wether they were a vampire, werewolf, or human.

"I'm sorry I attacked you. Like I said, I didn't really have any control today. I was at home and when I realized what was happening, I quickly ran to the woods. I wasn't even in here for a minute when I finally changed." Ruby explained, kicking a few rocks here and there. "I don't even understand how I changed. I can only change during a full moon, but today doesn't have one." They both looked up towards the night sky to see a crescent moon above them.

"I think I understand. It is because me and my friends are here. Your wolf nature is calling out to kill us. I've seen it happen before with other werewolves that I met over my time."

"That makes sense." They were both silent for a few minutes, neither knowing what to do about this odd predicament.

"So what was wrong with you? When I first saw you, you looked like you were in pain." Ruby said, not really wanting to make enemies.

"I was. It was the darkness."

"The darkness?"

"Vampires are creatures born of darkness, so it lives in our soul. However, the darkness is growing over the years and we can't stop it. We can only prevent it from growing but that is not easy." The vampire explained.

"How come?"

"The darkness grows when you succumb to it. If you allow your bloodlust to consume you, or if you let sin to tempt you, like jealousy."

"Jealousy? How does that work?"

"It's a sin. Vampires are meant to be dark and evil creatures but over the years, it has been building through the generations of newborn vampires. The older ones aren't as consumed by it, by young vampires like me are easily subjective to it. It's like a disease."

"How old are you? Like, how many years have you been a vampire?" The werewolf asked.

"Not even a hundred. Mackenzie is the oldest at 146, next to Aston, than the siblings, and Wren is a few twenty years older than me."

"Wow. So, what are you jealous about?" Ruby asked, curious to what the vampire could be so easily jealous about to allow the darkness consume her.

"Mackenzie."

"You are jealous of him?"

"Not of him. I am the most beautiful vampire ever, even he knows that. However, he just ignores me and all I want is for him to like me. Wren says that I'm too clingy and try to suck up to him too much. No pun intended." The girls both laughed.

"You know, I could probably help you. I know how to deal with boys and lately I haven't been able to share my intelligence." Ruby smiled.

"Hey, I'm up for anything. I'm just sick of the man I like ignoring me."

"I get what you mean. Just don't eat him." Ruby wasn't shocked to see Ivanna's utterly shocked expression.

"What?!" Ruby only laughed out loud, the pain of her past not hurting her as much anymore.

"I'll tell you some other time. I should really be getting back."

"Of course. I hope it's okay, but we are feeding on small animals. Like the small rabbits and squirrels we find."

"I understand. Just as along as you don't attack our town."

"We understand." Before Ivanna could turn around and head further into the woods, Ruby called out to her.

"Maybe tomorrow you can tell me why you and your friends are here?" Ivanna looked at her and smiled.

"Sure. Maybe you could help us." They then both left their separate ways, Ruby towards the town and Ivanna into the woods. Neither noticing the figure perched above them on a tree branch. The figure's green eyes were watching the two women as it's red hair was blowing in the night's cold wind.

* * *

The next day, Belle was spending her time under house arrest reading her books. She was laid out in the middle of the living room floor, facing the ceiling as the she held one of her books up. She had a pile of books beside her and with how fast Belle was reading, Rumple could see that if the vampires didn't leave soon he would have to head to the library to bring her more. Belle had called Ruby earlier and asked if she would watch over the library today and since it was a Friday, it would close early at four o'clock instead of eight. Rumple knew he would have to thank the werewolf for her help with library, maybe a few dollars off rent would make it up.

He had yet to tell Belle how she would play a part in saving the vampires and what would need to be done, but he knew that he wouldn't let it happen. It was easy to figure out that the only way she could keep them alive forever, was if she too was immortal. They would have to turn her into a vampire, an eternal feast to keep them alive. Rumple wasn't going to have that. He didn't care how much dark magic he had to use or what price he would have to pay to protect her, those vampires wasn't going to get their hands on her.

"Rumple?" Belle asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Yes love?"

"I know I'm not allow to leave the house today, but I was wondering if you would be so kind as to go out and get me some Granny's for lunch?" Belle asked, throwing Rumple her best flirting smile.

"Of course love." He smiled back.

He double checked all the protection spells on the house and on Belle before he got ready to leave. He gave her a kiss as he said goodbye.

"I'll be back with lunch. Don't leave the house and don't let anyone in, okay?" Belle laughed as he questioned her like a child, knowing that he was only trying to protect her.

"I understand. I'll be here waiting." She watched as he closed the door behind him and heard it lock.

Belle waited until she heard the car engine start and leave before running into their bedroom, grabbing the book that laid on his nightstand. Rumple had not let her look at it the night before and now she had a chance to learn exactly why the vampires wanted her. She flipped open the book and began reading as fast as she could, ignoring the headache she received from reading for the last few hours. Despite how much she loved reading, with how much she read and how fast, even she couldn't last all day. She thought that maybe she should have picked another activity to waste her time with.

Her eyes scanned the pages, looking for details that stood out to her. She was flipping the pages over so fast that she was certain she would get a paper cut, but she didn't care. She could always get a bandage or Rumple would heal it for her. After a few minutes, she was already almost halfway through the book until she spotted the word 'pure soul'. Remembering what Mackenzie had told her yesterday, she slowed down to careful read every word on the page.

* * *

Rumple's trip to Granny's was not very pleasant. He never did like the old lady but she had noticed how Belle had not been in for her usual sweet tea and burger for the last few days. Although the inn keeper was right to assume Rumple had something to do with Belle not being around, he didn't like how quick she was to it or how she questioned if he was hurting Belle. Surely the woman knew that he would never harm Belle and would bring pain to anyone who tried. Speaking of which, Rumple noticed how he didn't see much of the visitors in town, not that he totally cared. The more they stayed away from him the better.

To make his visit worse, Ruby had met him outside after he grabbed his order. She was leaning against his Cadillac with her hands in her jacket pockets. He already had to deal with one cranky werewolf, he didn't really want to deal with another. However, with the adamant look on her face, he was certain he wasn't getting out of this conversation either.

"To what do I owe this pleasure Ms. Lucas?" He sighed, as he pulled his cars keys out of his pocket.

"I wanna talk to you."

"Of course you do." He placed the food into the car before turning his attention back to the young woman.

"I assume you know of the visitors by now, what they are?"

"I am very well aware." He replied.

"Do you know why they are here?" Rumple paused before sighing, really hating where this was going.

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"Nothing you can help with."

"Really? Because one of them, Ivanna, says otherwise. I met her in the woods. We had a misunderstanding." Ruby stated.

"Ms. Lucas, I really don't care what your interaction with one of them was. Now if you excuse me, I have food I must take to Belle."

"Where is she by the way?" The werewolf asked.

"Home. Safe and sound." Rumple explained, noticing how the girl was eyeing him suspiciously.

"What do you know?"

"More than you." He replied in a curt tone of voice.

"Are they after her?" When the sorcerer didn't reply back, Ruby almost felt sick, making the connection. Before she could talk him off, Gold got into his car and drove off, leaving the werewolf standing in the middle of the street.

Ruby knew that she had to find Ivanna again and get a better explanation. She hoped that she was just being paranoid but she was certain that Gold would have told her otherwise if Belle truly was safe from the vampires. However, if they were after her, Ruby knew that Ivanna would be an enemy. She lost the hope that maybe her and Ivanna would be able to be friends, knowing how foolish it was. After all, she was a werewolf and Ivanna was a vampire, they couldn't make it work. Ruby left the street and walked into Granny's, wondering if her grandmother had any history with the dark creatures.

* * *

When he returned to the house, he walked in excepting Belle to run up to him and grab the food. However, he was greeted with silence. Belle wasn't in the living room where he had left her. Before he could begin to worry, he placed the food on the kitchen counter and walked through the house searching for his True Love. When he saw that she wasn't on the first floor, he walked up the stairs to their bedroom.

He entered to see her sitting on the edge of the bed, a book in her lap. He knew that it wasn't any book but _the_ book. The book that told her everything about why and how the vampires needed her. Rumple knew he should have hid it but what was done was done, he couldn't change the fact that she knew everything now. He figured that he could use magic to make her forget, but he would feel guilty and he knew that Belle would be utterly furious if she ever found out.

It was clear by the look of her face that she was distraught, now sure how to take what she had read. Rumple walked up to the bed and sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist while the other grabbed the book to place it aside on the bed.

"Belle, are you okay?" Even Rumple knew that was a stupid question.

"Sweetheart, please talk to me." They sat on the bed in silence, neither speaking a word for a while. Rumple had half excepted for Belle to be crying, but he knew that she was strong and brave, not some damsel-in-distress kind of women, even if she did need protecting and rescuing every now and then.

"Rumple?"

"Yes?"

"Will they turn me into a vampire?"

"Never." He replied. He placed his fingers under her chin, turning her head to look at him. "I will _never_ let that happen." Belle smiled at his vow to protect her, however, a thought had occurred in her mind during his absent.

"If I become a vampire, I will be immortal. Right?" Rumple froze, staring at Belle and wondering where she was going with this conversation. Belle was began to regret bringing the subject up, knowing her boyfriend would not like it. She really started to feel nervous when he remained silent, watching her.

"Why?" Belle was confused by what he meant.

"What?"

"Why do you want to know? Belle?" His voice was starting to sound harsh and Belle knew that she just stepped into rocky waters.

"I-"

"Belle, I don't ever want to hear you say something like that again. You will _not_ become a vampire, understand?"

"Rumple you don't decide my fate, remember? No one does." Belle voiced firmly.

"Belle! How can you suggest something like that? Do you even know what they truly are?"

"Please, just let me explain what I am trying to say." Knowing he was probably overreacting, he agreed to remain silent as Belle explained her logic.

"I was asking for the immortality part, not the vampire part."

"Why?"

"Because," Belle sighed, not sure where to begin her explanation. "I don't want to lose you."

Rumple's face fell with regret for nearly yelling at his love. He didn't need to hear her say anymore to understand what she was implying.

"Oh Belle. You won't. I promise." He quickly captured her lips with his, needing her now. He moaned as he felt her kiss him back. Rumple wasn't sure how to feel with what Belle had just said. With their kiss, he could understand what she was feeling. She didn't want to be alone without him ever again, and with her odd and curious mind, she came up with immortality as a solution. If felt that if she became immortal, they would be together forever and never be apart again. She didn't even care what she had to go through, as long as she was with Rumple. Rumple loved her for it, loved how she was willing to sacrifice her pure life just so she could be with him. However, no matter how she felt about it, he wasn't going to let it happen. He was determined to keep Belle safe from all the darkness in the world, even the darkness that resided in his own soul.

His love for her was poured into their kiss, as they fell back into the bed, tossing the book off the bed. They thought back over the last few days, about the new visitors and how they were here for Belle, wanting, needing her pure soul, and how the only answer was to turn her. She knew that Rumple didn't like the idea she threw at him, but she knew it didn't matter. At this moment, they were both here in their home, safe and sound from any vampires. So they forgot their worries and future problems as they simply laid in bed, kissing each other until they ran out of breath.

Leaving each other's lips to gather the much needed air, Rumple sat themselves up as he pulled the t-shirt she was wearing for the day over her arms on threw it on the floor. He placed his lips on her neck as he reached back to unclasp her bra, letting it join the shirt. Belle moaned at Rumple's treatment to her neck, as he was switching between licking, biting, and sucking. They both knew it would leave a hickey for tomorrow but neither care, it would show everyone, especially to the vampires, that she was taken. Rumple was determined to claim her as his, no matter how many hickeys he had to place on her.

Belle's hands reached up to grasp his hair, her head flew back as she screamed when Rumple gave a hard bite to her neck, nearly puncturing the skin. She wondered if this was how a vampire bite felt. If so, she already loved the idea of being turned. Never for the blood, but only for the immortality. All she ever wanted was to be with Rumple, never leaving him. She hated how they were constantly torn apart, wether by Regina, a curse, or them breaking up. If she had to become a vampire to be with Rumple forever, then she would find a way. After all, that was their deal on the first day. Forever.

Belle let out a sharp gasp as Rumple tore away her skirt and ripping her underwear off. They moaned each other's name as she wrapped her legs around him, bringing her hands to his tie.

"Rumple, please." Belle pleaded, her cheeks colored red with her blushing.

"Please what?" He asked. Rumple always loved to tease her, showing that he would almost always be the one in control with their lovemaking, except for the few nights she became really brave and Rumple couldn't stop her from taking charge.

"I want your clothes off." She said, tugging at his tie, determined to get it off.

"Very well." He smiled as she whimpered when he moved away from her to remove his clothing. A thought then crossed his mind as he began removing his suit jacket.

"You know we have lunch in the kitchen, right? From Granny's?"

"I don't care. I'll eat you if I have to." Belle said. Rumple's cock twitched in his pants as he thought of the idea of Belle devouring him, much like he had been doing lately. Not wanting to waste anymore time, he used magic to remove the rest of his clothing before leaning back down to Belle, not feeling hungry for food anymore, only for Belle. After all, they could always reheat the food later.

* * *

**Yeah, I'm going to leave you there. :) Like I said, I can be evil sometimes. I'm surprised how quickly I wrote this chapter today. A lot happened in this chapter and I think it all went pretty well. Please review. :)**

_Next time: Wren confronts Ivanna. Henry and Emma encounter Mackenzie._


	8. Chapter 7: Out in the open

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Once Upon A Time, they belong to ABC and Adam and Edward. However, I do own the vampires. :)

* * *

Henry knew that both his moms were hiding something, he just didn't know what. Henry often stayed with Emma in Snow's apartment but since he started feeling left out, Henry decided to stay back in his old room for a while. His adoptive mother was thrilled. Sure, she did't show it very much but Henry could see that she was really trying to change for him, trying to show that she did love him. Being the mayor's son, he was able to have almost anything and now that the Evil Queen had her magic back, she kept trying to show that anything he wanted was possible. Henry wasn't a big fan of magic, seeing what it could do, but he knew that he couldn't really get rid of it. It was a part of his family wether he liked it or not, and he loved his family. He wouldn't trade it for anything. The only thing he wished he did have was a friend.

Many of the kids at school stayed away from him because of his mom, the evil one. They also found it strange that his grandmother was their teacher and his real mom being the Savior didn't really help much surprisingly. The fact that he was in therapy might be a factor in him being lonely. The other kids found him strange, constantly talking about a curse, and knowing that he was right all along still didn't make them want to be his friend. He loved his family but everything about them was strange, from the magic, to the family tree, to everything. There was many times in his life that he felt lonely, the biggest one was when Archie started believing he was crazy too. For the longest time, Archie was the only friend he had, the only one that believed in him, until he brought Emma to Storybrooke. Things got better, but now, now she was ignoring him again.

He tried again this morning to ask Emma when he found her at Granny's what was happening with the visitors and what she knew, but once again, she simply told him that he didn't really need to know. He was really starting to hate this. Luckily, it was Friday and he would have the whole weekend to convince his mom to talk to him, to tell him what she knew. What made him smile was that he had a backup. If his mother wouldn't tell him, he could always ask Mackenzie.

Henry liked Mackenzie. Although his mother had warned him to stay away from the visitor, Henry didn't feel that Mackenzie was much of a threat. The man was easy to talk to and seemed to understand how he felt. Sure, he agreed that he was just a kid, but the man also gave him a reason as to why his family might be ignoring him. Mackenzie told him that his family was probably leaving him out of the loop because they were protecting him. It made sense to him. His family was always protecting him, it was what they did. He just didn't know what they were protecting him from, but surely it wasn't the new visitors. Henry hadn't met the others, but he really did like Mackenzie. He thought that maybe, if his mother would let him, he could hang out with his new friend this weekend.

School was let out a few minutes ago and before heading home, Henry had decided to head to the sheriff's office to talk to his mom. He knew that he was too curious for his own good but he couldn't really help it, it ran in his family. Young Henry Mills was determined to find out what was going on in this town, no matter who he had to talk to.

"Hey mom." Henry said.

Emma looked up from the paper she was working on. Although this was a town full of fairytale creatures, it didn't mean that there wasn't the ordinary everyday crime to be dealt with. Emma was working on filling out a form of a break in that had occurred in the liquor shop across town. She wasn't surprised when Leroy, or Grumpy, was immediately accused considering how much he liked to drink, but she also knew that he wasn't a thief. She was filling out the information she gathered earlier that morning when her son walked in.

"Hey kid, how was school?"

"Good, I guess. Hey, I was wondering if it would be cool if I hung out with a new friend this weekend?" Henry was a smart kid and knew better than to tell his mom who this new friend was.

"Really? Wow, that's great." Emma smiled. "Yeah, I think it will be okay."

"What do you mean? You're my mom."

"Well, yes, but aren't you staying at Regina's? I think that you should check with her."

"Uh, okay. Hey, what do you know of the visitors?" He asked.

"Henry, I already told you, you don't need to know. You just need to be an ordinary kid, hanging out with your new friend."

Henry didn't say another word, knowing that his mom was one of those people that once she made her mind up, there was no changing. He guess he had to go to his backup plan and talk to Mackenzie. He decided to change the subject quickly before his mother asked him exactly _who_ is new friend was.

"So what are you doing right now? I thought maybe we could get some dinner or something." Henry said, casually sticking his hands in his jacket pockets.

"I would love to but I need to finish this report. There was break-in at a liquor store and I need to fill out all the information. Sorry kid."

"Break-in?"

"Yeah. What is weird is that it wasn't the first one this week. There were a couple more in the past few days."

"Really? It sounds like it started when the visitors came." Henry threw his mom a too-curious-and-smart-for-his-own-good smile. Emma gave out a heavy sigh, knowing where this was headed.

"Listen kid-" Before she could scold Henry for his curiosity, they were interrupted when they heard a knock on the door. They both looked up to see the man that Henry was currently thinking of. There was Mackenzie standing in the doorway, looking a little sheepish for interrupting their conversation.

"Hey, can I help you?" Emma asked. She wasn't sure how to handle this situation. This was the first time she encountered one of the visitors since she learned the truth about them. Not only was she trying to keep her distance from them, she was also busy with the burglaries throughout town. Emma had faced many scary moments in her life and she could rate them easily. The least scary moments of her life were when she was waiting for a new foster home. The next was when she just stole the yellow bug and Neal popped up in the back seat, having just stole the car before her. The top moments were when magic entered her life and she didn't know if she would live or die. Standing in the same room with a vampire that may or may not be dangerous with her son not even three feet away took the cake. To make matters far worse, her heart nearly dropped when she heard what Henry said next.

"Hey Mackenzie."

He knew him. Her son knew this vampire. She didn't know how Henry knew or if he even knew what this stranger was but it didn't matter. Henry talked to him even after she told him to stay away, and what was worse was that Henry talked to him like they were friends.

"Wait. Henry, how do you know him?" Emma asked and felt sick when Henry gave her a guilty look.

"Uh..."

"You know what? I don't want to know. What can I help you with Mr. Mackenzie?" Emma looked back to the newcomer.

"Well, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment sheriff?"

"Uh, sure. Henry, why don't you leave us alone. Maybe you should check with Regina if you can hang out with your new friend this weekend." Henry knew she wouldn't like what he said next but he was really tired of being left out. Not to mention that he wasn't ten years old anymore, he could have any friend he wanted.

"Mom, this _is_ my new friend. I met him a few days ago at the creek."

There was a very awkward silence among the three in the office, neither knowing what to say. Emma was very steamed that Henry would go behind her back and talk to the strangers, Henry was feeling guilty for betraying his mom in a way but proud that he was standing up for himself, and Mackenzie was just feeling plain awkward.

"Um, I really don't mean to interrupt whatever you two were talking about, but I do need to talk to you sheriff. Alone?" The vampire asked, looking at the boy. He felt a little guilty at the young boy's saddened look but he also didn't want to scare the boy away, it seemed that he didn't have anyone there for him. Henry just looked at his new friend for a few seconds before replying.

"Okay. I'll be at mom's house." Without another word, Henry left the office so his mom could once again leave him out of the loop.

Emma didn't want to deal with either boy at the moment but she felt that the vampire was the most important at the moment. If she didn't deal with him, she might not have her son to deal with later.

"So, what can I help you with again?" She asked the vampire.

"I was just wondering if you could tell me a little about the old man that owns the pawn shop?" Although Mackenzie already knew about the men, he needed to know if this sheriff was a threat to him and his friends or not. If she didn't know about the sorcerer, then he would leave her be. If she did, then things would most likely get complicated later.

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything I guess."

"No. You're looking for something specific, I can tell."

"Really? How?" He smiled.

"It's kind of my superpower. I can tell when people are lying or hiding something." She said, smirking at the man.

"Well, do you know anything specific about him?"

"Why does Mr. Gold interest you so much? He's a crippled man that owns a shop. There's really not much to know." Emma was starting to think that she should have chosen her son to deal with because the vibe she was getting from Mackenzie right now was screaming 'murderer'.

"I think you know."

"Know what?"

"That Mr. Gold is a sorcerer with magic and you know that me and my friends are vampires." He glared at her.

"Yeah, I know." Emma felt it was safe to go with the truth. It probably wasn't best to play with these guys.

"Who else?"

"Mr. Gold."

"Who else?"

"Why are you here?"

"You are avoiding the question."

"Listen, I don't know what you want but I will go ahead and tell you that trying to hurt this town, is not your best option." Emma stated, hoping to scare away the vampire.

"You and the sorcerer won't be able to stop us. We came here for a specific reason and we can't leave without it."

"Can't? Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Just because."

This guy was really starting to get on her nerves. Today was already a crappy day, she didn't need to have a standoff with a vampire.

"What do you know of the burglaries in town?" Emma felt a little proud that she was able to throw the vampire off, even a little.

"What?" He asked, utterly confused.

"There has been a few burglaries from some liquor stores in town. What is curious is that they started when you and your pals got into town. We are a very small town and we have our everyday crimes. However, you will be surprised how well we all know each other. They wouldn't steal from one another. So, is one of your friends stealing the liquor?" Emma explained.

Mackenzie's expression showed that he was actually thinking back over the days, trying to figure out if one of the others did in fact steal some alcohol. One person came to his mind.

"Listen, I will talk to them. I think I might know."

"If they did, I will have to write a report."

"Sorry, but I don't think you would be able to arrest one of us. Besides, we don't really plan to be here much longer."

"Why?"

"Goodbye sheriff." Mackenzie turned to head out the door but stopped short when Emma called out to him.

"Whatever it is you need, get it and get out. We don't need your trouble. Also, my name is Emma, not sheriff." The vampire nodded to her before finally leaving.

* * *

Mackenzie made his way to the inn. Although the old women was working in the diner, they weren't sure where the younger werewolf they could smell was hiding. So they decided to keep meeting in the forest, being careful around prying ears. However, he had heard some arguing in the rooms the closer he got and hurried to end whatever dispute was happening. Once he entered the inn, he still couldn't sense the other werewolf, but he did hear a little more of the conversation from the bottom of the stairs. Things were not going well. He ran up the stairs and burst into the room. What he saw was Ivanna and Wren both standing in the middle, pointing fingers and calling names.

"She's not normal!" Ivanna yelled.

"Oh course she isn't normal, she's a werewolf!" Wren yelled back.

"Well she doesn't want to be one. She seems to really hate it. I thinks she can help us. After all, she wants us to leave as quickly as possible and I do too. Let's just talk to her."

"We can't! Let's just kill her."

"SHUT UP!" Mackenzie hadn't meant to yell so loud but the inn was empty of any werewolves and he really needed the two girls to stop yelling at each other so he could learn what was happening.

"What is going on?!"

Ivanna and Wren only looked at each other for a moment before speaking again, simultaneously, not allowing Mackenzie to understand either one.

"Stop talking. Both of you." The girl quickly closed their mouths and looked towards their leader.

"Listen, we have a few issues. Let us try to take this one at a time. First of all, where are the others?" The leader asked.

"Alexei and Vera went to find a quick snack, they didn't get enough last night. Aston, well, I don't really know where he is right now. Probably somewhere alone so he can think of a plan to get the girl." Wren explained. Mackenzie sighed before continuing.

"Second, the sheriff knows about the old man. She knows that he is a sorcerer and although she didn't tell me, I think a few others might know too. That means that she plus a few others know that we are vampires."

"Great! This just got complicated." Wren complained.

"It gets more complicated."

"How?"

"There have been a few burglaries in town."

"So?" Ivanna asked, not really seeing now this was important. The things that happened in this small town that didn't concern them, well, didn't concern them.

"They were from liquor stores." Mackenzie said, staring at Wren, who only looked away casually. "Wren, what's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you stealing liquor? Are you having issues?"

"No." The male and the other female vampire merely huffed, knowing she often had an issue with lying.

"Wren, you need to control yourself. You can't let the darkness consume you, the more you succumb to the liquor and bloodlust, the more it will grow." The leader said.

"What does the two have to do with each other?" Wren asked offended.

"Come on. We all know that the more you drink, the more you desire blood."

"Well, I don't think I should be the one on trial. She should." Wren said, pointing towards the vampire leaning against the window.

"What?!" Ivanna cried.

"You were the one talking with the younger werewolf like you were best friends. Also, if I heard correctly, which I know I did, you were in pain because you yourself was letting the darkness consume you. I at least have been trying my hardest to control it. Yes, the alcohol might make me want to feed more but at least I am controlling myself from going wild on the citizens. You are letting your anger take over because you don't know how to take a hint!" Wren fell back into a chair, sighing heavily after her defense.

"What is this about a werewolf?" Mackenzie asked. Ivanna only looked at him cautiously, gauging his reaction to the truth.

"I was in the woods, minding my own business," Ivanna shot a quick glare towards Wren, "when the younger werewolf attacked me. However, it was an accident. She really didn't mean to." Ivanna quickly added, hoping to tell everything before being put on trial.

"What happened between you two?"

"She seemed really nice. However, because we are here, she wasn't able to control her transformation, even thought it was not a full moon. She doesn't like to be a werewolf so I don't think that makes her evil. She does want us out of town though."

"Does she know exactly why we are here?"

"No. I never told her, but she does seem curious. Maybe if we talk to her calmly, she might help us."

"What the hell makes you think that?" Wren cried.

"I don't know. There is just something about her that makes me feel like she might not be a threat."

"_Might_. Until we are certain of anything, everything and everyone is a threat. That means the sheriff, the sorcerer, and _both_ the werewolves. Don't forget that." Mackenzie said. He kinda knew that something was going on with both of the girls, he just didn't know what. Now he knew. They were both secretly suffering from their darkness but Wren had better control from the sound of it. After, Ivanna was the youngest, so it was obvious that she would have a harder time controlling herself.

"What did you say to the girl?" Ivanna asked, pulling the head vampire out of his thoughts.

"Oh, I tried to talk to her about vampires and explained to her that her soul was pure. I told her she could save us from dying but I wasn't able to tell her everything before _he_ came in."

"What happened?" The worry in Ivanna's voice was clear, but still Mackenzie gave no indication that he noticed it.

"I gave them the book Aston checked out and told them to read it. Told them that it would tell them how she can save us but I also told them that it was her choice. I wouldn't force her."

"I will. I'm not really ready to die." Wren said, ready for action as always.

"I said that too but we really need to be careful. We cannot go head on with him, we will loose." The two women sighed, neither figuring a way around the all powerful Dark One.

"You know what I noticed about the girl?" Mackenzie asked.

"What?"

"It wasn't just that her soul was pure. She reminded me of someone."

"What do you mean?" Wren asked.

"It was her brown hair, blue eyes, light personality, caring heart, and her pure soul."

"Who?" Ivanna asked.

"Kallea. The women Aston loved before he killed her. I'm worried how this women, Belle, will affect him." Mackenzie said, hoping Aston's past didn't come back to haunt him.

"Belle? That means beauty. Is she?" Ivanna asked, nervous about the answer.

"She is." The look of affection in his eyes made Ivanna feel jealous, wondering if Mackenzie would easily fall for this woman, this human. She hated that thought and before she could stop herself, she felt her soul start to feel a tad heavier.

Suddenly, the three vampires spun on their heels when they heard a knock on the door. They knew that it wouldn't be the others, they would have either come through the window or not even bother knocking. So it had to be one of the citizens. Ivanna wasn't sure who it was but both Wren and Mackenzie had smelled that stench before.

"Mackenzie?" They heard from the other side of the door. "Are you in there? It's me, Henry." Mackenzie quickly swung the door open, wondering what the hell the boy was doing here.

"Henry, what are you doing here?"

"I thought we could hang out." The young boy had his hands casually in his jacket pockets, swinging on his feet, a wide smile on his face. This boy was definitely naive, lonely but naive.

"Sorry kid, it's really not a good time. Maybe tomorrow?" Mackenzie really did like the lad, but he had more important issues at the moment than hang out with a naive, too curious kid. He really hated the next idea but he ignored the kid's hurt expression and closed the door without another word.

Henry, however, never felt more pissed off before. First his family and now who he thought was his new friend. Everyone was ignoring him. Worse, Mackenzie called him kid, just like Emma. Henry wasn't going to take this anymore. He sucked in a big breath and didn't think before he let out his next words, loud enough for them to hear through the door.

"I know you guys are vampires."

* * *

**Okay, first I just want to say that I am so so so so sorry for uploading this so late. My motivation was totally gone this week. It comes and goes and I do feel guilty that I didn't touch this story all week. :( However, I did tell someone that I didn't want to make them wait a whole week for a chapter because I don't like that so I hope you can forgive me and accept this. Please review and let me know what you think. Also, please check out my new story with Rumbelle and the Shrek gang, _Once upon a time in a far far away land..._ :) **

_Next time: Aston meets Belle alone and Henry makes a deal. Regina and Gold talk. _


	9. Chapter 8: Confrontations

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Once Upon A Time, they belong to ABC and Adam and Edward. However, I do own the vampires. :)

* * *

Henry was naturally fidgeting, who wouldn't in his position. He was standing in a room with three vampires, their eyes staring at him, and he was certain that he could see their fangs despite that their mouths were closed. However, he wasn't sure if the fidgeting was through fear of being killed or excitement for the adventure. He didn't really know how to handle the fact that his new friend was a vampire but he didn't think Mackenzie would hurt him. After all, they were friends.

"Henry, how do you know? You left before I talked to your mother."

"I stayed behind a little and overheard the beginning and then left." Henry explained.

"And you left thinking I wouldn't hurt your mother, after what you just heard?"

"My mom is the Savior, she can take care of herself." Henry smiled, clearly proud of his mom.

"Savior? What do you mean?" Ivanna asked.

Henry eyes slightly widen, realizing what he just said. Before he could let more information about the town escaped, he quickly changed the subject by asking what six vampires were doing in a small little town like theirs.

"What, you didn't just eavesdrop now?"

"No. I just got here." Henry smiled.

"Listen kid, you need to go." Ivanna said.

"We can't let him leave. He will just tell the others. We should get rid of him." Wren said, eyeing the troublemaking boy. Henry took a small step back as Mackenzie stepped in front of the human as to protect him from the wild card.

"No one is going to touch him." The leader turned towards the boy. "Henry, what are you doing here? What do you want?"

"I came here and thought I could stay here for a while."

"Hell no! We can't let a human stay here Mackenzie. Even when he leaves, his stench will stay and the others will smell him. The werewolves are bad enough." Ivanna cried. Henry quickly eyed the vampire women on his right, wondering what all they knew already.

"She's right Henry. This was not a smart move."

"I'm sorry but I really had no where else to go."

"What do you mean? Don't you have like two homes?"

"Yeah but both my moms are being-"

"Parents. They are being parents Henry. They were trying to protect you from us." Mackenzie explained.

"I know but-"

"You have two moms?" Wren asked.

"Yeah. One is my adoptive mother and the other is my birth mother. My real mom. The other one doesn't love me. Listen, I don't need protecting. I've been through enough to know how to protect myself." He ignored how one of the women scoffed.

"Henry, you have to leave." Mackenzie said.

"No, I don't want to go."

"Henry-"

"Let's make a deal."

The three vampires looked at each other before watching the human, curious to what he could offer.

"What deal?" The leader asked.

"Obviously you guys are here for a reason. Maybe I could help." Henry said, smiling with a child's innocence.

"You can't help us kid. Just save yourself the trouble and leave." Ivanna said. She was getting rather sick of the boy who clearly didn't have any brains.

"No, he might be able to help actually."

"How?" Wren asked, leaning back in her chair, the conversation actually grabbing her attention.

"Henry, what do you know of the old man that runs the pawn shop."

"Mr. Gold? I know him, but what do you need to know exactly?" Henry asked.

"The women with him, Belle. Do you know her?"

"Yeah."

The vampires looked at each other again. They were each thinking that this boy just might be the key to getting close to the women and closer to their salvation.

"Henry. You are our new best friend." Mackenzie smiled, seeing the bright smile in the naive boy's eyes. This might be easier then they thought.

* * *

The last few days have been pretty rough on Regina. Finally it was a Saturday and she could relax, or relax as good as one could with six vampires running around in her town. She hadn't really bothered to find out what they were doing here. She had decided that the only thing that really mattered to her was to protect Henry from them. She was thrilled when he decided to stay at her house for the last few days instead of the idiotic Savior and her way-too-optimistic family. Her son for once liked her and wanted to stay with her and as long as he was safe from those blood drinkers, no one else mattered. So she really had to hold back her groan when the more than annoying imp came limping into her office, wandering why she hadn't bothered to make a move against the vampires.

"It's not like you to stay behind the scenes. You were always one for quick brute strength before slow calculated thinking, and no matter how many it got you into trouble, you continued to act before you thought."

"Trouble? If you haven't noticed you twisted imp, I am the mayor of my town and I am still the Evil Queen." Regina spatted at the man sitting across from her desk.

"Yes, you are. So tell me, why have you not done anything to rid the vampires of _your_ little town?" Gold asked.

"Because the only thing that matters to me right now is keeping Henry safe, nothing else."

"Not really surprising, you always were selfish." Rumple smirked at the now gaping mayor.

"Excuse me?!"

"You do not think of the consequences of your actions. As long as they meet _your_ needs, no one else matters, right?"

"I'm sorry but it sounds like to me you are the one being selfish." Regina said.

"How so exactly?"

"What is your issue Gold? Have you finally decided to come and complain about how the nice and pleasured life I gave you here just wasn't enough? What's wrong? The money? The nice big house? Or is it the color? You know, you could always paint it."

"Enough!" Gold yelled. Regina could see that he was enraged about some issue, she just didn't know why he was letting it out on her. "I know what the vampires are here for and unless you want everyone, and that includes your precious little son, to be killed, I suggest you stop being selfish and listen to me."

Regina closed her mouth, decided that perhaps it was safe to listen. After all, if he knew what they were here for, they could finally find a way to get rid of the bats that flew into town.

"Fine."

"Belle."

"Belle? They are here for Belle?" The mayor asked, actually surprised by the fact.

"Yes."

"And how does this involve my help exactly?"

"I need her safe."

The Evil Queen stared at her previous mentor as if he grew three extra heads. This was Rumplestiltskin, the greatest sorcerer to ever live. The great and all-powerful Dark One. No one knew dark magic as well as he did. Yet here he was, in her office, asking for _her_ help in protecting his precious little teacup.

"What? You don't have enough protection spells on her? I'm surprised. I figured that was the first thing you would do when you saw her. After all, everyone knows how overly protective you are of her." Regina said.

"You don't want to know why they need her?"

"No, not really. Why should I care?"

"Like I said, everyone and your son will die if you don't help."

Although Regina couldn't care less about all the insignificant creatures that was caught in her, or Rumple's, curse, she could care for no one as much as she cared for Henry. If keeping him safe meant helping the twisted imp once more, so be it.

"Very well. Why do they need Belle?"

"They are dying."

A lot of things shocked Regina in her past. Her mother quickly killing her fiancee right before her eyes and the Savior breaking the curse was a few she could name at the top of her head. However, neither of those or others shocked her as much as the words that left the imp's mouth. _'They are dying.'_ Yes, that definitely shocked her. After a few moments of silence, she sighed.

"What?"

"Do I really need to repeat myself? I really do hate doing that."

"How can they be dying? They are vampires."

"Which makes them immortal, yes, but everyone dies. Even me. Immortality does not necessarily mean 'never die', no magic is that strong. It simply means that you live long and in a sense, frozen in time."

"So if they can die, how are they?" Regina asked.

"The leader payed me and Belle a visit at the library. He gave us a book that told us of their history. It explained everything, from how they were dying and how they could be saved."

"You read the book?"

"Yes dearie, I do know how to read."

"That's not-"

"I don't really want to go into all the details. In fact, you can read the book yourself." Rumple said. He pulled out the said book and threw it onto the mayor's desk, not caring when it caused some of the papers to fly and scatter on the floor. "The bottom line is that they need Belle's pure soul to keep them alive."

"Forever?"

"Yes, weren't you listening?" Gold spatted.

"Okay. So if they need her to keep them alive forever, won't that mean that she herself needs to be immortal?"

Regina was starting to understand why the imp was pissed. He didn't have to be silent and show such a bitter expression on his face. The facts added up. The vampires need the pure soul of Belle to keep them alive forever, meaning she would have to be immortal herself. They would have to turn her into a vampire.

"I see why you need her protected but why can't you? What, you don't have all the power oh great Dark One?" Regina teased.

Gold remained in his seat, quiet and still, ignoring Regina's jab.

"I currently have Belle under house arrest and she's not allowed to leave without me."

"Wow, a little possessive too. Why am I needed?"

"I don't remember saying that I need you to protect her. Simple that I need Belle safe." Gold stated.

"Well it sounds like to me she is safe right now, if you have her under house arrest. Surely you have plenty of wards set up."

"I need her safe from herself."

Regina stared at Gold. As if having six vampires in her town and the Dark One asking for her help wasn't strange enough, now the bookworm was suicidal.

"Sorry but I am not going to stay at your house to keep a knife from her wrist. However I am surprised she hasn't tried it before, living with you and all."

"She told me that if she was changed, we could be together forever and not worry about people separating us." Rumple explained, glaring at Regina since she was responsible for their thirty year separation and making him believe that Belle was dead.

"So what, the bookworm wants teeth, or fangs in this case?"

"I don't really know. She read the book while I went to get lunch and she started acting...strange I guess. All I know is that I need her to stay away from the vampires."

"I'm sorry, but I really do not see where I am needed and you are wasting my time. I need to protect only my son, Belle is your responsibility."

"Well I won't be able to protect her all the time."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?" Regina huffed, getting irritated as she always did after a few minutes of talking to the imp.

"Because I plan to kill them."

* * *

Belle sighed. She was laying on the couch watching the clock. Rumple had left maybe an hour ago to talk to Regina and had left her at the house, alone, again. Belle didn't think that she should really be upset about it. She had her books and the television to keep her occupied but it wasn't the same when Rumple wasn't there with her. House arrest was more fun with him. At least if he was here, they would have an activity to do together. Belle smiled as she recalled earlier that day when Rumple came back from lunch but she was in the mood for her Dark Prince rather than a burger. Although their time together was nice, she didn't really like that she was practically locked up in their house.

She understood why he was being protective. There were six vampires running around town, wanting, needing her soul to keep them alive. She thought back to the book she read and the information it gave. The only way she could keep them alive forever was if she was a vampire too. Mackenzie had told her that it was her choice but she also knew that since he wasn't ready to die, Mackenzie and his friends would simply take her if she said no. So did it really matter if she decided not to save the vampires? If she said no, then the vampires would die and the town wouldn't be in danger, at least until the next villain came. However, it was always in her nature that if she had the power to save people, she would. Just like when she knew that agreeing to the Dark One's deal would save her kingdom. She didn't hesitate then, but this was slightly different. Yes, she had the power to save the vampires and her nature called out to save them but at one cost. She would have to become a vampire.

She knew that Rumple wasn't really happy with her idea of her becoming a vampire. In fact, she knew herself that it was rather ludicrous and how the idea popped in her head she wasn't sure. All she knew was that she didn't want to loose Rumple again and she didn't want him to live without her again. She didn't know how he survived nearly thirty years believing she was dead but she knew that she wouldn't be able to. She tried to find another way. She looked through the whole book for a loophole but the only way she could find for the vampires to live and for her to be with Rumple forever was if she was turned into a vampire.

The next question was why she should save the vampires. Vampires were well known and rather famous for being dark blood-sucking creatures that was consumed by evil. The book proved it too and she understood that it was their darkness that was killing them. She recalled to when she meet Aston and Mackenzie. They seemed nice. Beside the fact that she _knew_ they were vampires, she couldn't really notice anything strange about them. Overall, they seemed normal like anyone else, and just because they were vampires it didn't necessarily make them evil, right? Just like her Rumple. Although he was called the Dark One, she knew that he wasn't as evil as everyone believed him to be, simply misunderstood. So why would it be wrong if she saved the vampires? Unless they gave her a reason not to.

She looked back at the clock and saw that only five minutes passed since she last looked. _When is Rumple getting home?_ She had tried to pass her time by reading her books but the last book she read made her fear for her life and there wasn't really anything on t.v. Seeing that it was bright day, she decided to head outside. Rumple had blocked the front and side doorways that lead outside, preventing her from escaping. However, he had left the door leading to the backyard free for her to enjoy the sun but the wards around the year prevented her from climbing over the fence.

She sat down on the patio chair and watch the sky. She wondered how the vampires didn't burn in the sun but then laughed when she remembered that the book stated that was a hoax. Beside the immortality and whole blood-sucking business, Belle believed that they were as normal as anyone else.

Belle's were interrupted when she noticed a figure in the trees. If she reading or simply letting her mind wonder, she probably wouldn't have noticed it. However, the shadow was advancing towards her and as it got closer to the edge, she could make out who the intruder was.

Aston. Belle wasn't sure how to feel. Yes she was frightened that this vampire was right outside of the wards but she was always brave and decided to see what the boy wanted before calling for Rumple. She wasn't going let the fact that they needed her soul to live to scare her in becoming some damsel in distress. Belle was brave and she was going to fight if she had to.

"Aston. What are you doing here?"

"So you know?"

"Yes. Mackenzie talked to me and Rumple." Belle explained.

"The sorcerer."

"Yes."

"Are you afraid?" Aston asked, gauging Belle's reaction.

"No."

"Are you always this brave?"

"Yes."

Aston laughed at Belle's black and white answers. And then the pain game. Not from the darkness but rather from the memories. Belle was so much like Kallea. Although he never had the nerve to talk to her or court her, he always watched and listened to her. Watched how the sun made her chestnut hair glow and her blue eyes glimmer. Belle was exactly the same, and it wasn't just the looks. It was her soul. Right before he killed her, Aston could feel Kallea's soul purify his, washing him over with sweet relief. He felt the same thing in the library, in the shop, and now here, standing right outside of the fence of the backyard where Belle was currently standing in. He wasn't sure why, but he wasn't able to get near her, though he felt that the sorcerer must have placed up wards around the home to protect her.

She was beautiful. Aston wasn't really surprised considering her name. Belle. It was perfect. He remembered that Kallea's name also meant 'beauty' but it wasn't the same as _Belle_. Her name, her look, her soul, she was perfect. He had to have her.

"Where is the sorcerer?"

"Around." Belle said. She felt that her answer was probably pointless since it was clear that she was alone.

"What is he to you?" Aston asked, now perching himself on top of the fence.

"He is my boyfriend."

"Really? What do you see in him?"

"What is it to you?" Belle asked.

"You seem very hostile right now."

"You could say that. There are six vampires who are needing my soul to keep them alive and in order for that to happen, you need to change me."

"Yes, that's true, but how did you learn?"

"Mackenzie. He met me and Rumple yesterday at the library and gave us the book you checked out." Belle explained.

"Oh, well I won't need that book anymore." Aston smiled.

"Why are you here Aston?"

"I just want to talk to you."

From the three time, including this one, that Belle had been around Aston, she always felt that he was a good kid. She assumed that he was obviously older than her and probably younger than Rumple when it came to age by time, but if you went by appearances, he seemed like a very nice young gentleman. However, knowing the truth, Belle knew that she wasn't safe around him. To make matters worse, she was starting to get a really bad feeling around Aston, one that screamed he wanted her.

"Mackenzie said it was my choice."

"But you know that it won't matter." Aston said, explaining what she already knew.

"I know. Is that why you are here? To go ahead and take me away?"

"No. I just want to talk."

"About what?"

"Kallea."

* * *

"What?!"

"I plan to kill them."

"I know what you said, I just can't believe it! Tell me, how exactly do you plan to kill them?" Regina asked the deranged imp sitting across from her. She knew he was mad, everyone knew, she just didn't think he was suicidal to an insane degree.

"Well, from what I have learned already, they are dying from the darkness in their soul. Belle's pure soul will keep them alive."

"So just keep them away from her and they will die out."

"Our six vampire friends are not really the main concern."

"What do you mean?"

"Obviously, they had to come from some kind of clan, right? They came here for a reason and they came prepared. Surely six vampires alone did not learn of all this knowledge and how to save them. Someone taught them." Gold explained.

"So you are saying there is a whole coven of vampires out there, dying, needing Belle's soul?"

"Yes."

Regina sighed and leaned back in her chair. The Evil Queen of the past would have easily throw Belle to the wolves, or bats in the situation, but she was changing. Or at least she was trying to, for her son. Since the curse broke and she almost lost Henry because of her stupid mistake, she was trying her very hardest to change for him. She has even taken upon herself to talk to Archie weekly to help her deal with her past. It wasn't easy for the Evil Queen but she would do anything to save her son. In this case, saving her son meant getting the vampires to die. To get the vampires do die, Belle had to remain safe.

She still wasn't sure exactly what the imp's plan was, but if it meant Henry's safety in the end, she would take part.

"Fine. What do I need to do?"

"Maybe you could keep Belle company, and by company I mean safe," Regina nodded her head. "and help her with research."

"Research?"

"Belle is the best at research but she doesn't know everything about magic. You can help her with that."

"Wait, does she know that you are planning to try and kill the vampires?"

"No. I have yet to tell you."

"And you won't right?"

"The less she knows, the better."

"Knowing your Belle, always brave and curious, don't you think that she will try and find a way to talk to the vampires?" Regina asked.

"Why would she?"

"Well she might try and talk them out of it. When I was holding her in my tower, you won't believe how many times she kept trying to pull out whatever goodness I had in me to set her free. She kept trying to make me see that I wasn't all that evil."

Rumple smiled. It was definitely his Belle and he was extremely proud of her. He knew that she wasn't going to let the women who tricked her get the best of her, queen or no queen. Belle was always the type of soul that needed to save the injured animals, wether she got bit or not. However, he wasn't sure that she understood entirely that these particular animals' bites would ultimately end her life. He wouldn't let her live as a vampire. He would kill every last one of them before they took one lick of her.

"Are you sure that she is safe right now?" Regina asked. Although she didn't like to admit it, she knew that the previous maid was very smart. With all the time she spent with Rumple, surely she would have found a way around his wards, even if she didn't have magic.

"Yes. Now, how about we make a deal?" Rumple smiled, knowing exactly what would appeal to the queen.

* * *

"Who's Kallea?"

Aston was still perched on the fence, actually looking comfortable, and Belle was standing in the middle of the backyard, tensed and ready for any chance she might need to run.

"I loved her."

"Did something happen to her?"

"She died."

"I'm sorry." Belle actually felt sorry for the boy. She couldn't image losing the love of her life. "May I ask how she died?"

She wasn't sure why but she knew that she had just said the wrong thing. The look Aston sent her could have easily killed her but it was quickly replaced with a look of longing.

"You must be her. Kallea, I'm so sorry."

Storybrooke was full of surprises. Belle knew this from her first day when the curse broke. Having vampires in the town won the prize for the biggest surprise, but for Belle, it was this young boy telling her that she must be the reincarnation of the women he loved.

"Excuse me?"

What shocked Belle more than the fact that they were vampires or Aston claiming she was Kallea was when Aston jumped off the fence and into the backyard, standing three feet away from her.

"It is you. I know it." Aston took a step forward.

_It isn't possible! Rumple placed wards around the yard to keep me safe. I can't get out and no one can get in. Except for Rumple._ One more step.

"I knew it was you when I saw you in that library." Another step. _So how is he in here? How did he get past the wards?_

"You can finally save me. I'm so sorry Kallea. I didn't mean to, I swear."

Belle knew that Aston was too lost in believing she was Kallea and since he was somehow now in the backyard with her, nothing else protecting her, she couldn't run from him. She prayed that Rumple would show up now, at the last minute, just like he did the other two times. Another step.

Belle opened her mouth but couldn't scream. Aston, with his vampire speed, leaped towards her until he was placing his hand over her mouth, silencing her.

"Sh. I won't hurt you Kallea. I promise. Not again." He took his hand off when he was sure that Belle wouldn't scream.

"Then let me go." Belle pleaded.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't care if you save the others, but you will save me." Aston said. He leaned his head forward, tilting her head so her neck was exposed to his. His mouth watered. He could hear it. Her heart and her blood, pumping into her neck. Ready for him to bite. He kept imagining how it would taste since he first saw her. He killed her the first time but he wouldn't make that same mistake. He had better control. He wasn't letting the darkness take over as much as Ivanna and possibly Wren was. He craved for her, yes, but he wouldn't dream of hurting her again. All he needed was one bite. Just one taste. Just one drop. Then the darkness would fade away for a few years and he could live with himself again. And this time, Kallea would be with him.

She was scared. He could feel it. Why she wasn't screaming he didn't know and nor did he care. Here she was, in his arms and ready for him to bite. Just one bite.

He drop his head further down until his lips nearly touched her skin. His fangs were ready and filled with venom. A little further. Another inch. Then his vision went black.

* * *

**Sorry this took so long to write but inspiration finally hit me last night and I blew through half of it and the rest today. It's finally getting good and intense. :)**

**Do you think Rumple saved her in time or was he too confident in her protection? How did Aston get through the wards and what is Belle's fate? Also, what is the deal Henry made with Mackenzie?**

**Please review :)**

_Next time: An unexpected ally saves Belle and Henry's secret is brought to light._


	10. Chapter 9: Aftermath

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Once Upon A Time, they belong to ABC and Adam and Edward. However, I do own the vampires. :)

* * *

It all happened so quick. One moment, Aston was standing three feet away and the next, she was inches away from him biting her but those inches were quickly lowering. Before Belle could blink and understand what was happening Aston was thrown into the fence. Belle staggered and was thrown off balance from the force of the wind that was caused by the assault but before she could fall onto the grass, a hand caught her back and held her straight. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to her surroundings. When things became clear, she could Aston lying on his stomach in a pile of the debris from the broken fence. She looked up to see her savior. It was one of the female vampires.

"Are you okay Belle?"

She found her mouth stuck, too shocked from the experience to be able to speak a word. The female laid Belle down onto the ground and let her sit to compose herself. She saw the female walk over the other vampire that had just recently tried to kill her. She kicked the blonde boy so he would face upwards and leaned down to stare into Aston's closed eyes. Seeing that Aston was knocked out well, the female vampire returned to Belle and helped her up.

"Are you hurt?" She checked Belle's neck for any puncture marks. Once she saw that there was none, she led the human towards the house.

"Wait, you can't." Belle said, placing her hand on her arm.

"Belle, you need to get inside. You will be safe in there."

"You can't enter. Rumple has shields around the house." Belle explained.

"I know. I will deal with Aston, you go inside."

"Wait," Belle stopped her. "Thank you."

"No problem." She smiled.

"What's your name? You're one of the vampires aren't you?"

"Yes. My name is Wren."

Belle stared at her savior. She had bright red hair and sharp green eyes. She was young, perhaps around Belle's age physically but Belle could see the wisdom behind the eyes.

"Get in and call your boyfriend. Now." Wren then left Belle and rushed with vampire speed towards Aston body. With her strength, she picked him up and jumped into the trees. She then disappeared from Belle's sight.

Knowing she probably didn't have much time, she took one more look at the broken fence and turned to enter the house.

* * *

It was a fairly simple deal. Regina would help Belle with research to find any information about the vampires that would help Rumple kill them, without Belle knowing his real plan. Rumple was use to lying. He had spent years lying to the pawns in his game, he has even lied multiple times to the women who had just agreed to help him. He learned the game of lying from his father. Lying became a part of his life. If it meant protecting Belle, he would lying through his teeth. He loved her more than anything and the gods be damned if he was going to let her get hurt.

"What do you know of Mackenzie?" Regina asked. Rumple stared at the evil queen, wondering where the question came from.

"Why?"

"Emma. She called me before you came and talked to me. Apparently, Henry has a new friend."

"Let me guess." Rumple said. Being the clever man he was, it was easy to piece the puzzle together to realize that Henry's new friends was the vampire Mackenzie.

"I want to know what the hell Henry is doing with vampires."

"I'm not sure if he knows."

"Well find out." Regina demanded.

"I don't believe he is my son. Isn't it your issue your majesty?" Rumple said. "If I see him, I will talk to him."

"Fine."

Rumple was on his way out the door when his phone rang. Flipping it open, he saw that it was his home phone number and instantly feared his love was in trouble.

"Belle? Are you okay?"

Regina looked up from her paper work when she heard the sorcerer say Belle's name.

"I'm coming straight home. Do not leave." She heard him speak in a harsh and strict voice. When she looked at him and saw his expression, she immediately knew that something was wrong.

"What is it?" Regina asked.

"Belle. One of them attacked her."

* * *

Wren threw Aston's body onto the forest floor. Seeing that he was still unconscious she kicked him in the stomach, causing him to be thrown against a near by tree trunk and waking him up.

"Morning sunshine." Wren smiled.

Aston looked up and saw not only Wren, but Mackenzie, Ivanna, Alexei, and Vera sitting on the tree branches above him. Their leader had a rather pissed off expression and Ivanna looked somewhat impassive if not sympathetic, though Aston wasn't sure what she had to feel sorry about for him.

"What did you do Aston?" Mackenzie asked in a very demanding voice.

Aston didn't speak and just stared up at the five vampires surrounding him. They all looked like they were ready to rip him to shreds.

"What did you do Aston?!" Ivanna screamed.

"Nothing!"

"You idiot! I was right there. If I was seconds longer, you would have killed her." Wren yelled at him.

"Isn't that the plan?! We need her soul! She's the one that has the pure soul that is going to save us."

"Well she can't save us if you kill her." The leader said.

Aston stood up as the other five vampires surrounded him, blocking any exit for escape. Although they were all vampires and all possessed great strength and speed, he knew he couldn't take them all. Sure he was the fastest but with Ivanna's tracking skills, he knew that he couldn't escape her. Once she found him, Vera would hunt him down. Once she caught him, her big brother Alexei would drain him and that was after Wren had her fun with her dagger, stabbing him just for the fun. All the while, Mackenzie would sit back and watch while his team did all the work to kill one of their own. He was trapped.

"What were you thinking Aston? I know that we need her but I have already told you all that this takes time. We cannot just jump her and take her like that. We can't give her that shock. I want her to help us because she wants to, not because she was forced." Mackenzie said.

"You know, for a genius, you really are dumb." Wren commented.

"Ever since we got here, you haven't been using your brain Aston." The brother stated.

"It is because of that girl."

"What is it? Is it Kallea?" The leader vampire asked.

The silence from Aston confirmed his suspicion and now Mackenzie and the others were even more worried. Although they did not know everything about the women Aston first killed, they knew that he loved her deeply. From the very little Aston had told the others, they were able to piece together that this women Belle reminded Aston of Kallea. To make matters worse, he believed somehow that Belle was Kallea born again and was now obsessed with her.

Mackenzie sighed. He always knew that Aston's state of mind since he became a vampire was extremely fragile. He couldn't comprehend how or why he thought the way he did, how Belle was his Kallea reincarnated. Mackenzie was always smart. He was a prodigy but that was always with facts and numbers and logical sense, never with the state of mind. He was always humane and could never understand why anyone would want to hurt another person, human or vampire. Trying to understand why Aston thought or felt the way he did right now was an impossible task for Mackenzie. The most important thing he needed to worry about right now was making sure Aston stayed away from Belle. After his attack, things were going to be impossible now. However, since this was their existence they were fighting for, the impossible had to be done.

"Aston, you have to stay away from her."

"I CAN'T!" Aston yelled, running into Mackenzie. With the short distance between them, Aston wasn't able to cause much damage but damage wasn't the focus. All he needed to do was gain a little space to escape them. He was after all the fastest among the six vampires here, it would be easy.

Although he was able to push Mackenzie away, Alexei grabbed his arms from behind and placed him in a headlock with quick speed and accuracy. Wren wrapped her arms around him from the front, using her strength to pin him. Vera and Ivanna then pulled his legs out from underneath him, causing him to fall. With the four vampires finally pinning him down on the ground, Aston, after a few minutes, finally gave up the struggling and remained stilled. However, the other vampires stayed, not moving away from him in case he ran.

Mackenzie, stepping towards him until he was close enough to hover over the young vampire, raised a rock. He then threw the rock towards Aston's head, knocking him out.

* * *

"BELLE!"

Rumple ran the best he could with his bad leg into the salmon colored house, searching through all the rooms until he found Belle. Regina, who entered behind him, walked outside towards the backyard, seeing the broken fence.

"BELLE!" Rumple walked into their bedroom, frantically searching for his love.

"Rumple?"

Hearing his name from the bathroom, he threw open the door to the Belle standing in front of the mirror, a washcloth in her hand and on her neck.

"Belle. Are you hurt?" He walked towards her with only three strides and brought her into his arms.

"I'm fine."

He brought her hand down from her neck to take a better look. Seeing that there was no holes in her, he sighed.

"He didn't hurt you."

"No. Wren saved me."

"Wren?" He asked.

"She was one of the vampires." Seeing his eyes widen, she quickly raised her hands up in defense, explaining how she pushed Aston off of her a split second before he could bit her.

"What happened Belle?"

"I went outside-"

"Belle you shouldn't have gone out. Not unless I was with you."

"Well then maybe you should have blocked the backyard from me too." Belle said, raising her voice slightly.

"Belle-"

"No! You can't keep me trapped in the house anymore. Clearly, it's not safe here for me either."

"Belle-"

"Rumple!"

Rumple stared into Belle's eyes, seeing that she was starting to get furious. He didn't really blame her. He had her in the house, for her protection, for the last few days and was starting to get cabin fever.

"I want you to stay with me-"

"Rumple you can't! You can't protect me the whole time."

"YES I CAN!"

Belle immediately shut her mouth. There was only one time in her life with Rumple had she heard him yell with such rage and anger, or even yell period.

Rumple remained silent. He could still see the determination in her eyes but he also saw slight fear building up. All he ever wanted for her was to protect her, never to scare her. Even when they first met and their first day together, he only ever teased her.

"Belle, I'm sorry." He pleaded. Belle remained silent, just watching Rumple.

Before he could stop her, she turned and headed down stairs and he followed her.

"Belle, wait. Where are you going?" He asked as he watched her grab her coat and head outside, or at least try to. She was stopped by the wards he had placed at the door. She turned around to face him and gave him an irked expression.

"Let me out."

"Just so you know, I fixed the fence." Rumple and Belle turned their heads to see Regina standing near the couch. Belle wasn't sure how long she was there or why she was there but she didn't care. All she wanted was to leave and Rumple wouldn't let her.

"What happened here Belle?"

"I'm safe. That's all that matters."

"No it's not Belle. Yes, I'm glad you're safe but I want to know how the hell he got trough the wards. No one but myself can get in and out."

"I don't know Rumple!" Belle yelled, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I went in the backyard to get some air and there I see Aston in the trees. Next thing he is perched on top of the fence and before I can blink, he jumps inside the yard and runs towards me." Belle explained.

"What all did he say?" To Belle's surprise, it was Regina who asked.

"What do you mean?"

Regina looked at Rumple before answering Belle.

"Well, they need your soul to keep them alive. Surely, he would have said at least something before he tried to kill you." Rumple watched Belle and felt the anger inside him boil even more when he saw the hesitant look on Belle's face.

"He said something strange."

"Strange how?" Rumple asked.

"I don't know who she is but he said something about how I was this woman name Kallea. Do you know who she is?"

Rumple and Regina exchanged looks. Neither knew who Kallea was or why Aston would think Belle was her.

"Mackenzie might know. I will head to the inn and talk to them."

"You can't leave me in the house the whole time they are here Rumple. They could be here for a long time. Are you really going to keep me locked up the whole time?"

"No." Belle was once again surprised. She decided she really hated surprises. "You and Regina are headed to the library for research."

"Research? What for?"

"Anything we can find about the vampires" Regina said.

"The book told us everything already."

"Not everything." Rumple responded.

Belle wasn't sure what her and Regina were going to look for but she didn't care. She was glad that Rumple was actually letting her out of the house. She just wished she didn't have to do the research with Regina of all people. After all, this was the woman who tricked them both, locked her up, and made Rumple believe she was dead. She caused them too much pain already, but Belle knew that it was either the vampires or Regina and the Evil Queen was the less of the two evils.

Rumple then grabbed her wrist and led her outside to the car. Regina followed and they all got in, headed towards town.

* * *

The nice thing about the old granny owning the diner was that she was almost never at the inn, except at night. So carrying Aston's unconscious body inside was quite easy, especially when they entered through the window. They were quite surprised that they haven't had any trouble with the old werewolf, which was more than they could say for the younger wolf, who also never appeared at the inn.

After throwing his body onto the bed, the five vampires sank into the chairs or the other bed, not knowing exactly how to deal with the aftermath of what had just occurred. The brains of the mission lost his mind and just made an extremely dangerous and rather idiotic move. Before anyone could come up with some kind of idea, Henry came running into the room.

"Guys...wow, what happened here?" He asked, seeing Aston's body on the bed.

"Aston lost his mind." Wren said, rather casually.

"What is it Henry?" Mackenzie asked.

"Rumplestiltskin is coming." The vampires all with quick speed stood up, staring at the door. Mackenzie didn't bother telling Henry to leave. They made a deal, he might as well be here. They couldn't stop the boy from interfering, he was stubborn like that.

"MACKENZIE!" They heard the sorcerer yell from down the stairs. Before the vampire could head to the door to go downstairs, Rumple immediately popped into the room. Since it was mostly Aston who knew about the sorcerer and magic more than the others, they were all surprised how one moment they heard him yell from downstairs and the very next, he was standing in the same room with the six vampires and the human.

"Henry?! What are you doing here?" Rumple asked.

"Business." Henry said.

Rumple looked back between Henry and the vampires, eyeing the young boy and wondering if he knew. Seeing the naive smile but the glint in his eyes, the pawnbroker knew that the young naive but smart boy already knew and he seemed extremely proud of himself.

"We need to talk later. Wait outside."

"I'm not leaving. You can't make me." Before Henry could let another word out, Rumple waved his hand. A puff of smoke surrounded Henry and sent him outside the room, waiting in the hallway.

Rumple stared at the five standing vampires with a murderous look. "What. The. HELL?!"

Despite being vampires, five pair of eyes widen with surprising fear. They stared at each other before watching the sorcerer, each wishing that the only vampire in the room who knew about magic was awake.

"Let me explain-" Mackenzie began.

"Yes, you better."

"I would have talked to him far sooner if I noticed it earlier but I didn't until I saw Belle and talked to her myself."

"Who the hell is Kallea?" Rumple asked.

The silence in the room angered the all-powerful sorcerer even more and caused him to blow out the window, scaring the standing vampires and waking the sixth.

"What's happening?" Aston asked, rather groggy from the pain in his head. He sat up from the bed and looked up to see his team and the sorcerer who looked rather steamed. He then noticed the broken window and looked back at the man. Before he could move, Rumple lunged towards the sitting vampire, ready to kill him. Before he could attack, Mackenzie, Vera, and Alexei held him back, using all their strength to calm him.

Suddenly, a burst of magic spread through them and push them against the walls, causing cracks to form around the bodies. Wren then pulled out her knife and jabbed it into Rumple's side before he could wrap his hands around Aston's throat. Seeing Rumple fall to the floor and cry out in pain, Aston jumped back from the bed in alarm. Before he could escape through the broken window, Ivanna and Wren grabbed him and pinned him once more to the floor. Alexei then joined them and jammed his knee into his chest while Mackenzie was yelling at the sorcerer to remain calm.

"I will not remain calm! He attacked Belle!"

"Yes and Wren saved her before he could harm her. Wren threw him off of her and carried him away. Wren saved her." Mackenzie explained, pointing at the red head women and raising his hands in defense hoping to keep the man at bay.

"She just attacked me!" Rumple cried, clenching his arm around his rib and using his magic to heal him quickly.

"Please! Let me explain to you what I believe happened. Please, let's just talk." Mackenzie said, keeping his arms raised.

Seeing that the leader of the vampires was not a threat, Rumple looked back at Aston.

"Wren, Alexei, Ivanna, get Aston out of here. Take him deep in the woods and get him to calm down. Knock him out again if you need to" Mackenzie ordered. The three then grabbed the boy and flew out the window.

"Who is Kallea?" Rumple asked again.

Once he believed that Rumple was calm, Mackenzie lowered his hands and sat on the bed. "Kallea. Aston loved her."

The shock on Rumple's face was clear. "What?"

"Somehow and I can't tell you because I cannot figure it out, but somehow Aston believes that Belle is Kallea."

"That's what Belle said."

"After talking to her myself, I see it." Mackenzie was careful with his words, not wanting the wrong ones to escape his mouth by accident.

"What the hell do you mean you _see_ it?!" Rumple screamed.

"Well they look alike. A lot."

"You mean you met her once?"

"No. Aston carried around a drawing of her. He drew after he became a vampire and his memory of her was still fresh. He never told us much about her but we were able to figure that he believed Belle is Kallea." Mackenzie explained.

Rumple sat in one of the chairs, across from the beds where Mackenzie and Vera both sat on.

"Listen, I know it sounds crazy-"

"Yes, it does," Rumple said "but you need to know this." He stood up from the chair and glared at the two vampires, speaking in his most dangerous voice. Neither yelling nor remaining calm.

"If either one of you EVER touch her again, you won't have time to run." The Dark One then spun on his heels and exited the room.

* * *

Henry was leaning against the hallway wall, hands in his pockets and head tilted back. He figure that perhaps Mr. Gold sending him into the hallway was the best choice from the bangs and crashed he heard from the room. Although it was only a few minutes, Henry felt like he was waiting for hours until he saw Gold open the door and slamming it behind him. He stood there staring how him, causing Henry to look for his own exit.

"Listen-"

"No, you listen. What the hell were you doing? Do you even know who they are?" Gold asked.

"Yes. They are vampires." If Rumple wasn't pissed already, he was now. He always had a soft spot for kids and Henry never gave him trouble before but he never believed that the Mayor's kid had little brains. However, since he was raised by Regina, it made sense that Henry would not think before he acted.

"And you are spending your time with them?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because. I'm sick of everyone ignoring me! Everyone always did that when I was right about the curse and I hated it! I'm smarter then everyone thinks!" Henry cried.

"So you think that risking your life with vampires will prove you're an adult? You may be smart but you are still a child Henry. Your mothers are just trying to protect you."

"I don't need protecting."

"Say that when you get killed." Rumple headed down the stairs, leaving the naive boy to his own chosen fate. "What business were you doing with them Henry?"

"Just business." Henry shrugged and followed Gold.

"Just so you know, both of your mothers knows that your new friend is a vampire."

"Okay." Rumple stared unbelievably at the boy, not sure what was going on in his head.

"What? Okay? What is wrong with you?" Gold asked.

"I made a deal with them." Henry smiled, proud of himself.

"What deal?" Gold wasn't sure if he wanted to hear. He made thousands of deals in his lifetime and when one party had the upper hand, whatever it was, it never turned out well for the other. He knew that in this situation, it was the vampires who clearly stood tall.

"I'm going to become a vampire."

* * *

**Okay, so this was a very long chapter because of all that has happened. Let me try and make everything clear. Aston has lost it. Rumple is pissed. Belle is getting frustrated but is still being patient with him. Her and Regina are going to do research, mostly to keep Belle from finding out that Rumple plans to kill them. As for Henry, I'm really sorry if you like him but I really really hate him. So I'm pretty much bashing him and letting some of that annoyance that he gives me come out. However, there is no guarantee that he will be turned but like I said, I don't like him. **

**Now, Mackenzie has to step up and make the right choice as the leader. Aston needs to get his head back. Review if you have any question and I will try to answer them. Also, tell me what you want for Belle's future. Vampire or not? The next chapter will entirely focus on Belle and Rumple. No other characters. ;)**

_Next time: Rumple takes action and Belle fights back. _


	11. Chapter 10: Letting it go

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Once Upon A Time, they belong to ABC and Adam and Edward. However, I do own the vampires. :)

* * *

It was finally the weekend. After a week of vampires all Rumple wanted to do was to stay home with Belle and forget about the world. Forget that six vampires wanted her soul and that one of those vampires already tried to attack her. However, despite that it was the weekend, he knew that there would be no rest from the trouble. Not only did he have to worry about the vampires and Belle's safety, he knew that Belle was close to yelling at him. He had virtually kept her locked in the house all week and although she knew the truth now, he knew better than to decided her fate and control her. He had just finished at doing last minute business at the pawnshop and was headed home. Regina had texted him telling that she had finished dropping Belle off at home after the library. Rumple wanted Regina to watch over Belle while they did a little research in the library. Belle knew the truth about the vampires now but it was only a matter of time until she figured out Rumple's real plan. He thought that if she was kept occupied with fake research at the library, he would have more time to find a way to kill the dark creatures that had invaded their town without her knowing. When Belle found out, and she would, the only safe excuse he could use was that the research her and Regina are working on wasn't fake. Not entirely. He really did need her to research on the vampires for more information than the little black book gave them. He wasn't sure entirely how he was going to kill them so any little piece of information they found would be helpful to him. All he needed was Belle to remain busy with research and to keep her safe, he needed Regina to watch her.

He pulled up into the driveway of his salmon colored house and parked the car. He took a deep breath and looked upon his home. _I really should think about painting it a different color._ He wasn't really ready to face Belle because he was certain she would yell but it was inevitable. Stepping out and locking the car, he walked up to the house. Lately he has been using more magic on his leg so he wouldn't have to worry about the cane. Although the cane was useful in attacks and one of his favorite weapons, he needed to be more quick with these new enemies. He couldn't really be limping after a vampire in the streets, it wasn't intimidating.

Rumple opened the door to see Belle on the couch. He was rather shocked. He half excepted her to have her arms crossed with a determined look upon her face but here she was laid out on the couch, asleep. _Perhaps the research wore her out._

He took a few steps until he reached her and crouched until he was level with her face. He brushed away the hair that fell on her face and watched her. With all the stress that she has been through for the last week and after yesterday's attack, she seemed to be extremely peaceful while she slept. As if all the dangers that lurked outside the house didn't exist. Having no desire to wake her, he got up and headed to his study.

Aston attacking Belle set Rumple on the track on locking her away more than before. He still couldn't fathom how he was able to reach her. He had placed wards all over the house and even the yard. He made to sure to refresh it every morning so it should have been strong enough. Not even her majesty was able to break through them. When he visited the vampires yesterday, he was so steamed that all he cared about was killing Aston. It pleased him to see his fellow vampires upset at him too, even if it was because he nearly jeopardize their plan to achieve Belle. However, if he was able to figure out their plan then he could protect Belle more and prevent them from carrying their plan out. That was a little easier said than done. _Perhaps young Henry could help._ He knew it was a long shot considering the naive boy took the enemies side and merely out of loneliness but since he was his mother's son, both of them, it wasn't a really surprise to Rumple that he would act out of selfishness, jealousy, loneliness, and other emotions that clouded one's judgement.

Just as he sat himself down in his office chair, a knock came upon the closed door. He didn't understand why she would knock but he figured that she took the closed door as a sign of privacy when really it was a force of habit to close the door behind him. Having spent 300 years alone in his home, he was still getting use to having someone else living with him, even if that someone was Belle.

"Come on in Belle." He said loud enough for her to hear through the thick wood.

The door opened and his beautiful love stepped in. He frowned when he noticed how sadden her expression once considering how peaceful she was when she slept.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She walked over to the couch that sat across the room, grabbing the random book that laid on the table next to it.

"You wouldn't have bothered me if it was nothing. Even if it was, you still wouldn't come in. I know you Belle."

His heart would have skipped a beat at the most beautiful smile on her lips if it didn't fade away as quick as it appeared. He stood up and walked over to sit next to her. He didn't pay notice to the book in her hands and he figured that she only grabbed it out of her own habit.

"Belle. Talk to me."

"Well that's not fair."

"What do you mean?" Rumple asked, shocked at the annoyance in her voice. She was usually a cheerful person when she woke up, unlike him, but something must have happened if she was acting rather...Rumple didn't quite know the right word for how she was acting but it wasn't her.

"Every time I ask you to talk to me, you simply ignore me. When you want me to talk, I'm not allowed to ignore you?"

"I didn't say that."

Belle continued to stare at the book, not even paying mind to it or Rumple. They sat in silence for a few moment, each hating it until Belle gave up and sighed.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"Tell you want?"

"That you plan to kill the vampires?"

Belle was surprised with the silence he gave since he clearly didn't expect her to already know.

"Regina told you." _Maybe I should have been more specific to our deal. My skills are starting to slip._

"Yes."

"I didn't plan for you to know."

"Not until it was already done, right?"

"Maybe. I don't know. I don't even know how to kill them."

"That's why you had me do research, even if it was to keep me busy from finding out."

"Yes." Rumple sighed. Silence again. The only noises that filled the room was the ticking of the clock and the absent minded flipping of the pages from the book in her hands.

"Belle-"

"I know you are trying to keep me safe but I'm fine." She slammed the book and got up to leave the room.

"Safe? What makes you think you are safe?" Rumple asked, his impish voice slightly coming through to show his annoyance. "Is it the fact that six vampires are after you? How you got close to two of them, even if I was there? How about when Aston somehow got through the protection shield and was a hair away from biting you? Does all that make you safe?"

"I'm safe because you won't let it happen."

"No, I won't. I'm not ever letting them touch you again."

"I know."

"Then why are you upset at me Belle?" They stood in the middle of the room, staring at each other in more silence. Neither knew where to go or what to say. It has been a long and stressful week and they didn't have the energy to fight with each other. However, they both felt that the conversation that was on the edge of appearing was one that needed to happen, even if they didn't like it and they knew they wouldn't.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I brought up that idea of me becoming a vampire."

"Belle-"

"I don't know why I said it. I just don't want to lose you Rumple." Belle told herself she would remain strong but the near crack in her voice told her otherwise.

"You won't." Rumple walked towards her to close the gap between them. He placed his hands on her hips, pulling her to him. "I won't let this separate us. I promise."

"How can you be sure?" She was close to crying and she wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps it was the stress of the week or that they had been separated plenty of times before and was about to be separated again.

"Because I will stop them."

"Rumple I don't want you to kill them."

"Belle they are vampires and they are dying anyways."

"That doesn't mean you need to end them. Dying should be natural, not forced." Now the tears were falling.

"Belle, tell me what's wrong. Please." He begged. He lifted his hand to wipe away the tears that streamed on her face.

She leaned into him, wrapping her arms around him and holding on to him as if she was falling.

"Did you have a bad dream?"

"No. Not at first."

"What happened?" Rumple felt horrible. It seemed as if it was always him who was in pain. He was always the weak one and she was the strong one. It was her to comforted him. Even after the curse broke, she was comforting him when he found out that he couldn't leave to find his son. If ever she broke down from the years of the asylum, she never showed him and it pained him to know that she suffered. It was worse when she was crying in his arms and she felt that she couldn't tell him.

"I lost you."

"No you haven't Belle."

"In my dream. I lost you." She buried her head into his neck.

"How?"

Before she could explain, the phone rang. Rumple had to hold his growl in. There was nothing he hated more than interruptions. Wether it was in the shop or at home, they always had a way of happening during very delicate moments between him and Belle. Although he didn't want to let Belle go to answer, he knew that the ringing wouldn't stop. Even when it did, the person on the other side who undoubtedly call again, waiting for an answer. It was Belle who separated themselves and walked over to answer the phone that sat on his desk.

"Hello?"

Rumple watched Belle, looking for any signs of trouble from the conversation. To his relief, it was Ruby. Belle was happy to hear her friend again and he was shocked when the werewolf girl was calling to make sure of Belle's safety. Although they had an understanding, Ruby never fully trusted him. No one ever did, sometimes not even Belle. It didn't really surprise him. What did surprise him was when Belle held the phone out to him.

"She wants to talk to you."

Taking the phone to his ear, he answered. "What?" He ignored the look on Belle's face of his lack of 'hello'.

"Belle is safe and she won't be leaving the house for the next few days."

Without another word, he slammed the phone down and looked at Belle. She was pissed. Although she clearly understood that he was protecting her, she wasn't one to be practically held hostage. He wasn't sure how many times he heard her say 'No one decides my fate'. It was her personal motto, along with 'Do the brave thing and bravery will follow'.

She turned on her heels to exit the room, he followed.

"Belle. You can't leave."

"Rumple. I've already told you. I'm not safe here and if I'm not safe here, I'm not safe anywhere. So what is the point of you locking me up? I can't stay in the house until you kill the vampires, I'll go stir crazy. I already am!" All her pent up frustration was starting to surface and she was having trouble with her control.

"I know Belle. I just told her that to leave us alone."

"No you didn't. I know you Rumple." She paused, watching him. "What did she want?"

"Nothing." He walked past her and headed into the bedroom. Belle sighed. She wasn't going to take this. Following him into their room, she slammed the door behind her, shocking Rumple.

"No. You want me to be safe and you think that's by locking me up and keeping things from me but it's not. The best way for me to be safe is to let me know what is happening. That way I can be more careful and not walking around town ignorant of the situation. I don't like feeling useless Rumple."

"Belle do you not remember when Aston was practically on your throat?"

"Yes but he didn't hurt me."

"Only because one of the others stopped him!" He yelled.

"Wren."

"What?"

"Wren. That's her name."

"I don't care what her name is. All I care about is keeping you safe and away from the vampires that is wanting to feast on your soul while I kill them."

"Any how do you plan to accomplish that?" She asked, wondering how an all-powerful dark sorcerer could be so stupid, careless, and frustrating.

"I will find a way."

"Let me guess. That's by keeping me away until they die. They are immortal Rumple. It might still be ages before they die. Do you plan to keep locked away forever?"

"Do you have any other options?"

She sighed. She walked into the bathroom, wanting to get away from her boyfriend right now. She wasn't sure why she picked the bathroom, her mind wasn't working properly lately it seemed, but it didn't matter. Rumple grabbed her wrist and spun her around. He smashed his lips onto hers. The kiss was quick but loving.

"I'm sorry Belle. I-I just can't lose you."

"You won't. I promise."

"I know you hate being stuck in the house but all I want is to protect you."

"I know. I should be more appreciative. I'm sorry."

"Oh Belle. You don't have to apologize. It's my fault. I'm being too overprotective." Belle placed her hand on his cheek and looked longing into his eyes.

"Oh Rumple."

She closed the gab between them and captured his lips. Their mouths moved against the other, licking and sucking their bottom and upper lip. Belle gave a slight gap and Rumple took the open to dive his tongue in, exploring her mouth and fighting for control with her tongue. They continued until they were forced to separate for air. Once they parted Rumple turned them around so Belle's back was facing the bed. He then slowly walked forward until the back of her knees touched the edge of the bed, their eyes locked on each other the whole time. Rumple gently pushed her shoulders down so she would sit. When she sat down she wrapped her arms around Rumple's waist, pulling him towards her the best she could in her position. He wrapped his arms around her head, giving her a light hug. Despite that he was standing and she was sitting, they seemed to fit perfectly.

What came next Rumple didn't expect. Belle began to unbuckle his pants, lifting his shirt out of his pants and pulling down the zipper.

"No." Belle said when Rumple tried to prevent her. "Please."

Seeing the pleading look in her eyes, Rumple remained silent and let her continue, knowing that all the hours she has been cooped up in the house, she needed this. Needed to be in control right now.

Belle grabbed his pants and pulled them down, revealing his boxers. Belle always liked his boxer but she was more interested in what was inside, but since she was in control she decided to tease him a little. Stroking his cock through his pants, she gave him a small smile and from the pleasured expression on Rumple's face, she could tell that he was enjoying this too. With the situation, it wasn't a surprise when he grew quickly. Deciding he was ready, she removed his boxers and Rumple had to hold back his wince when the cool air touched his cock.

One of the things that Rumple would always love about his Belle was her bravery. She always did the unexpected. So when he felt something wet wrap around his cock, he slightly jumped to see Belle taking his cock in her mouth and starting to suck. He wasn't where she learned such technique but he figured it was from one of those books that he would find her reading with a slight blush. His breathing became ragged and before he realized it, his hips were moving on their own and he was sliding his cock in and out of Belle's beautiful mouth. Whenever they performed in oral sex, it was always Rumple sucking on Belle so to have the roles reversed had Rumple harder than usual and Belle even braver. He yelped when Belle began to play with his balls, massaging them with her delicate fingers while she continued to suck more on his hard cock. It didn't long before Rumple screamed her name and he came into her mouth.

Rumple was always a gentleman, even in the bedroom, and he found the idea of a man shooting his load into a woman's mouth quite rude. However, this was his Belle, his brave Belle, that took him in her mouth and didn't even try to stop him when he came. Out of breath, he sat down next to her on the bed, his cock hanging between his legs.

"Are you okay Belle?" He asked, hoping he didn't choke her.

"I'm fine Rumple." She said after she shocked Rumple by shallowing his cum.

"Belle."

He kissed her and leaned her back onto the bed. Subconsciously, they scooted up on the bed for more room and Rumple placed himself so he was looking down on Belle. Leaning forward, he placed a kiss on her forehead, her cheek, and trailed down her jaw to her neck. By now, Belle's breathing was becoming quick. He knew that her neck was very sensitive and although she needed control, he wasn't going to let this opportunity pass him.

He licked her neck, causing her chest to jerk upward. He gave a few more licks before following through with his plan. He thought he would be perfect considering the situation. Giving her neck one more lick, he bit down hard. Harder than usual and began sucking. He knew that this wouldn't leave a hickey but instead a visible bite mark from his teeth but he would heal it when they got done. The moans from Belle's mouth told him that this was perfect. She then grabbed his head and pulled him down to be as close as he could to her neck. While one arm supported his weight so he wouldn't crush her, the other came up to grab under her jaw and slightly lift up her head for better access. Belle's moans got louder and Rumple continued to suck, licking every now and then and giving the occasional kiss. As he continued to bite down on her neck, slowing drawing blood, she gave a small scream and the only pain she felt from it was he was finished, he looked down at his work to see a small smudge of red. He loved her very much and never wanted anyone to hurt her. However, with the vampires around town aiming for her and Belle not fully understanding the danger she was in, he felt that the bite would help get the idea of her becoming a vampire out of her head. He looked into Belle's eyes and saw more lust in her then he ever have before. Now, he didn't care about teaching her a lesson or locking her up, looking into his love's eyes, he knew one thing. He needed her and he needed her now. Screw who was in control, wether it was her or him. As long as he took her right then and there, that was what mattered.

"Belle. I need you." He panted.

"Me too." She pulled his head down and kissed him, tasting her blood on his lips. With the blow job she gave him and the bite he gave her, they were both hot, wet, and ready for each other. No more waiting, they needed each other now. Reaching down to grab his cock, he positioned it into her slit. Despite how much they needed each other, he would never enter her until he knew that she was ready. Giving her one more look, she nodded, showing her approval. He then slid inside her with one quick thrust. Both their heads jerked back as they called out their lover's name.

"Belle!"

"Rumple!"

It didn't take long before they set a rhythm. It was quick fast paced thrusts, hard and raw. Their panting became just as fast and the sound of skin slapping each other and moans of ecstasy filled the bedroom with the occasional scream of pleasure. They both knew that what they were doing right now was not making love but fucking. Pure fucking. It was raw and natural. No loving touches or kiss but quick sucking and bites.

Rumple lifted one of her legs and draped it on his shoulders, not once slowing the speed of his thrust. Each one harder than the last. Belle was gripping the sheets for dear life, looking for some release from the pleasure that she was sure was going to kill her. Never before have they been this raw before. It was almost animalistic.

With two more thrusts, Rumple growled as he shot his load into Belle once again. She screamed as her head flew back with the powerful wave of pleasure that filled her. Rumple fell down next to her and out of breath. He wrapped his arms around Belle as he tried to help her down from her powerful orgasm.

They laid in silence for a few minutes after they caught their breath, holding each other in their arms and forgetting about the world. Before they realized it, they fell asleep.

* * *

**Okay, so this was my first time writing the entire sex scene so I hope I did okay. Sorry I haven't uploaded for the last week but I was busy reading books to better my own writing. After all, it's hard to write a story if you don't read one. I was going to add more to this chapter but it's late and I'm tired and I thought you would like to leave with this scene in your head. :) Please review, they really help. I hope to work again on 'Far Far Away' and also write a short chapter story on Belle and Bae's relationship.**

_Next time: Henry confronts his mothers and Aston's fate is decided._


	12. Chapter 11: Fates decided

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Once Upon A Time, they belong to ABC and Adam and Edward. However, I do own the vampires. :)

* * *

It was Saturday evening and Regina was sitting at home with Henry up in his room. She was never happier to have her son in her home, his home, and she was trying her best to make things work. Ever since he went off to find that Emma Swan lady, Henry had pretty much forgotten that it was _her_ who raised him, her who took care of him when he was sick. A mother was someone who cared for you, not simply give birth. She was trying to be patient. She knew that he was still a kid, no matter how smart he was, and was at the moment trying to be there for him. He had come home from visiting his new friend and ran upstairs without another word. She didn't know what was happening with her son but she knew something was wrong. She knew that more than the sheriff she was certain. So when he ran up without a word, she thought it would be best to give him a few minutes to cool down before going up to ask him about supper and hopefully solve the mystery of her son's strange behavior and new friend.

When the clock hit six, she knocked on his door to hear no response. The dinner she made was downstairs cooling with each passing second that Henry didn't response back to her knock.

"Henry?" Silence.

"Honey, please come out. Dinner is ready."

She was relieved when the door swung wide open to reveal Henry giving a simple smile, "What are we having?" he asked.

"Pot roast. Your favorite."

"Cool." He walked past her to head downstairs to the dining room. She watched him as he went by, noting how he was much happier than before. In fact, she would be honest and say that was the most she had ever seen him smile in the whole week. Now she was curious.

Once they were sat down, Henry gave Regina the shock of her life. If she wasn't aware of the town's situation, she would have been curious to where the question rose from. Now, the mother's joy of seeing her son smile was replaced with the worry and dread for that son's life.

"Have you ever meet a vampire?"

"What?"

"A vampire?" Henry asked, with a piece of roast in his mouth.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious."

She knew her son could very well and knew that simple curiosity wasn't part of his game.

"No you're not." Henry looked up at the Evil Queen with wide eyes, wondering if he's been caught and that Mr. Gold had told his mother about the encounter in the inn.

"Henry, there's is something you need to know. It's about the six visitors that arrive a week ago."

"Mom told me to stay away from them." Regina has been hurt many times in her life but nothing ever hurt as bad as when the son she raised called the stranger he brought from New York or wherever 'mom'. No matter how accustomed she has grown to the new sheriff, she would always hold a hatred for the women who Henry felt was more of a mom than Regina was to him. Eleven years of loving the boy unconditionally and this was what she got in return. Her son walking away from the women who raised simply because he found the women who brought him into the world.

"Yes, you should. They are not safe."

"Really? Why not?" Henry's ears perked up when he realized that perhaps his mother would begin to tell him what was going on, even if he knew the big secret.

"Well first, why do you want to know about vampires?" Regina asked.

"Uh, well I found this cool book in the library about vampires. They are part of folklore and I was just curious if you encounter any in the Enchanted Forest." Henry explained.

Regina watched her son, knowing he was lying and fearing he knew the truth. Henry, being the curious boy he was, asked many questions growing up and they were almost always strange. So Regina decided to discard this conversation in the curious pile of his questions. However, she needed to know what he knew so she played along with his curiosity.

"No. I've never seen a vampire." It wasn't entirely a lie. She had see them when they arrived to town but never paid much attention to them. When she called the meeting to discuss them and Gold informed her of the truth, she made a habit of staying away from them. So technically, she had seen one but never met one and she kinda wanted to keep it that way.

"Oh, well I was just curious." Henry said, taking another bite into his pot roast.

"So tell me about your new friend?"

"Why?"

"I was just curious." Regina smiled, teasing her son with her own curiosity.

"Well I met him down at the river one day during school." Henry's eyes immediately went wide, realizing that he had let it slip that he skipped school, however he felt that it wasn't much of a big deal since his mom probably already knew.

"We can talk about you skipping school later, tell me about your friend."

"His name is Mackenzie," her heart nearly stopped when she heard the name, realizing that one of the vampire's name was Mackenzie. "I know it sounds like a girl name but I think it fits him. He's really cool."

"So is he in your class?" Regina asked.

"Uh, no, not really. He's home schooled." He lied, hoping she would take the lie.

"Oh. Well maybe he could come by someday and hang out here."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Well, he's shy." He said. "He doesn't really like people."

"I bet." Regina said under her breath but loud enough for her son to hear.

"What?" Henry asked.

"Henry, I want you to stay away from him." The Evil Queen decided to put an end to this pointless conversation of curiosity and games.

"What? Why?"

"Because I am trying to protect you."

"From what?!" He yelled as he stood up in his chair. He slammed his hands on the diner table, shocking Regina. "What aren't you telling me?!"

"Henry, it's nothing you need to know of."

"Well I already know. I know Mackenzie and the other visitors are vampires! I overheard them when he talked to Emma." Regina remained in her seat and silent.

"You and Emma both, even grandma and grandpa, had been keeping things from me. I'm not a child. _I_ was the one who figured out your stupid curse and help break it. You think you guys are trying to protect me but you're not. You're only leaving me out of the loop. I'm a part of the family too." Henry yelled, letting all his frustration and aggravation out on the women who raised him, who was partially if not fully responsible for him being in therapy and wondering if he was crazy.

"I understand Henry but you are only a child."

"No I'm not."

"YES YOU ARE!"

Henry froze. Although he knew she was the Evil Queen who set a curse upon many lives, in all the years that she raised him, never had he heard her yell. Never had he been afraid of her.

"Henry, no matter what you think, know, or figure out, you are only a child. I will not loose you. All I want is to protect you and as much as I hate to say it, so does Miss Swan. Yes, you are smart but you are still young and you don't know everything. I don't want to know how long you have been friends with those vampires because you won't see them again. You are not leaving this house."

"You can't keep me hostage."

"Watch me." With that threat, Henry could see for the first time in his life the Evil Queen in his mother and realized just as dangerous she was.

"You can't keep me here because I will get out and meet my end of the deal."

"What deal?"

"I made a deal with the vampires in return."

"Return for what?" She wasn't sure she wanted to know but she had to protect her only son.

"I help save them and in return, they will turn me into a vampire."

Her world froze for a few minutes before spinning all around her. The words that came from the young boy's mouth shocked her more than ever before. Her son made a deal to become a vampire. Why? Because he was feeling lonely and left out. She would do everything in her power to make sure that didn't happen and if that meant to lock him in is room, so be it.

Before he could blink, Henry was in his room, alone. He ran to the door to find it locked by magic. He then ran to the window to find the same thing. It was official, he was held hostage in the Evil Queen's house, just like the eleven years growing up. However, he wasn't nervous. Emma would come and break him out, he was certain. Taking a breath, he sat on his bed and began reading the _Once Upon A Time_ book for what might be the hundred time, waiting.

* * *

As a vampire, Aston was able to handle any amount of pain that was thrown at him. As long as it was from humans. As for the pain his so called team brought him had him blacking out a few times. All he could clearly remember was running towards Kallea with fangs ready to bite. Then he woke up on the forest floor with Wren, Alexei, and Ivanna standing above him.

"Nice going you idiot." Wren said.

"Kallea. Where is she?" Aston asked.

"Dead. Remember, you killed her a long time ago. The women you attacked was Belle and now you've ruined everything."

"There is no way we are going to be able to reach her now." Alexei stated. "You're suppose to be smart. I expected Wren to be the one to mess the plan up."

Alexei jumped back to avoid the hit Wren threw at him.

"No, that was Kallea." Before he could jump up to run, Mackenzie jumped down from the tree branches where he was previously perched, hiding, and threw a punch into the younger vampire's chest, blowing out the air from his lungs.

"You fool!" He yelled. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"I'm sorry-"

"No. We can not afford to make more mistakes then we already have. You've become a hazard Aston."

"What do we do with him?" Wren asked.

Mackenzie closed his eyes and remained quiet for a while, contemplating the course they should take to prevent Aston from causing more damage. He always liked Aston compared to the rest but the move he made earlier made Mackenzie's decision easier. It was either Aston or the vampire race. Opening his eyes, he looked hard at Aston who was lying on the ground. His eyes seemed to have no remorse for his attacking Belle and after letting out a heavy sigh, Mackenzie made his choice.

"Kill him."

* * *

"Henry!"

Henry looked up from his book when he heard his name being called from downstairs. It was Emma and he smiled. He knew that she would come to save him and let him out from his house arrest. He jumped from his bed at the knock on the door and ran to open it, showing Emma with the most pissed off look he had ever seen on her.

"What the hell are you thinking kid?!"

"Mom-"

"Regina told me what you did. I thought that you were smarter than that." Emma said in a harsh voice.

"You can't make my decisions for me."

"You wanna bet?"

"Regina had me locked in here. You gotta help me." Knowing that the Evil Queen had unlocked his bedroom door to allow Emma in, he took the opportunity to escape, hoping his real mom would take pity on him and let him come home to his house.

"I think Regina had the right idea locking you in here. You can't be out there. It's too dangerous for you."

"No it's not mom. Don't you remember that I helped break the curse."

"Yes but the curse didn't have blood sucking vampires."

"Mom, I can do this."

"Do what? Be turned into a vampire because you're lonely."

"No that's not my plan."

Emma stared at Henry as if he grew two extra heads. Henry's plans always threw her for a loop but this took the cake.

"What do you mean?" She asked, determined to find out what her bone-headed son was up to.

"I can try to talk them but I need to get close to them for that."

"Talk to them about what?"

"They're dying and they need Belle's soul to save them. Maybe I can help them find another way."

"I don't think that will work."

"Yes it can. Mackenzie's my friend-"

"He's a vampire Henry."

"If he was as bad as you say, then he would have killed me already."

That stopped Emma cold. Like always, he had a very good point but it could easily be a trick on Mackenzie's part. After all, he is a vampire. She remembered when she talked to him. He did seem rather nice for a vampire and she had a good sense about people and could tell if they were really good or bad and she had a feeling that Mackenzie might be one of the good vampires, if there were any. She then realized that the boy in front of her was the same boy who stole his teacher's credit card and used the internet to find her. He then hitchhiked his way to her apartment and brought her home. As crazy as it sounded, and it sounded crazy, she thought that if anyone could find a way to help the vampires without getting them to kill everyone, it just might be Henry. He somehow had the power to help people change for the better.

"Tell you what, I'll take to Mary Margaret's apartment and then we will talk. Okay?"

"Perfect." Henry said, smiling as always.

She wondered why her son would go to such extremes just to get some attention. Then again, she really couldn't blame him. After all, he left Maine on his own, hid in a mine, and hate a poisonous dessert just to get someone to listen to him. It was only a matter of time when 'becoming a vampire' made the list. Luckily Regina left the house to attend other matters so Emma was able to let Henry leave the house and they headed to Snow and Charming's apartment.

* * *

**First, sorry this is such a short chapter. It's not my favorite I'll be honest but I felt that I had to get it up fast. Second, yes, Henry is being a very big brat and yes, i don't like him. Third: now, a lot of people are telling me not to change Belle into a vampire but i will say this, _someone_ will be changed. I just haven't decided who. Belle, Henry, or someone else. If it makes you feel better, the person won't be changed for long, we still have a while until the end. Last, please review and help me with some ideas :) anything will help. Also, a twist will be added next chapter. ;)**

_Next time: Another visitor comes into town and stirs some trouble up. _


	13. Chapter 12: New face, new trouble

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Once Upon A Time, they belong to ABC and Adam and Edward. However, I do own the vampires. :)

* * *

Surprisingly, the town was bigger than he expected. Small, but bigger. It had been about a week and no word from the young ones so he decided to come and see for himself what was happening. He had stopped along the way for a meal, a young teen girl with her lover in the woods. He couldn't help but smile at the ignorance the humans possessed these days and believed that they only got dumber each century. Perched on top of a branch and looking upon the small town of Storybrooke, he could smell from the distance the stench of werewolves and aroma of blood. It was a bittersweet smell that filled his nostrils and caused venom to drip from his fangs and flood his mouth. It seemed as if he never could fill his appetite.

It was when he was ready to run to the town that he could also smell the distance smell of decay, one that could only be smelled from another vampire. It was a very bitter smell at first but after a few decades or so, one got use to it. Pointing his attention to the aroma, he began to hear voices. Not those in his head begging to feed but rather the voices of ones he knew quite well. The voices of the young six vampires that had set off to the same town he looked upon. Jumping down from the branch he ran further into the woods to find the young ones.

It didn't take long. Their voices, smell, and his speed led him there quicker than any human could. When he spotted the others he saw Mackenzie standing in front of Aston, watching, and after a quick pause, he heard Mack uttered the words 'Kill him'. He was able to hear the conversation clearly before he even reached them and knew what he had to do.

Using his strength and speed, he slammed into Mackenzie to throw him off, as well as shock the others to prevent them from completing their order. Not that they would have been able to quickly. Killing a vampire was very tricky business and often got messy. Even another vampire was not able to accomplish the task easy. It was why they lived so long. Their second death was hard to come by.

When he finally steadied himself after slamming into the leader of the group, he looked upon the other five, smirking at their shocked expressions and gaping open mouths. Clearly they were not expecting him and that was what he wanted.

"What are you doing here?!" Alexei cried in utter fear.

"I came to see what was taking so long." The newcomer replied.

Even Mackenzie, a strong and powerful vampire in his own right, was terrified at the presence of the new vampire. The one who was so kind enough to body slam him into a tree. Joining the others in a competition of utter surprise and fear, Mackenzie gulped in his throat. He couldn't believe it. None of them could. They knew that eventually one of the elder vampires would come and check on them. However, they weren't expecting this particular elder to be standing in front of them with a smirk. The six vampires who have lived in the small town for the last week were scared. Scared as any vampire could be. After all, if Vlad was here, they knew that they were in trouble and that things just got worse.

* * *

"V-Vlad. When did you get here?" Mackenzie asked, slightly sore from the attack he received moments ago.

"Don't worry. I just got here and just in time it seems." He said, turning his gaze to the boy who was still laying on the ground, awaiting his death. Offering his hand to the young lad, Vlad helped Aston up.

"Why exactly are you here? It's only been a week." Alexei said. Vlad never did like that boy. To him the boy always seemed somewhat of a kiss ass and self arrogant brat.

"You should have finished the job in two days."

"Well things got complicated since the first day." Vera said.

"Yes I can smell the werewolves, even from here."

"Well you haven't had to stay in the inn with that stench every night for the past week." Alexei complained.

"I think what Vera meant was the sorcerer." Mackenzie said.

"Sorcerer? What sorcerer?"

"Rumplestiltskin. He's here." Aston said.

Vlad stared at the six vampires, suddenly realizing why it has been a whole week since they hadn't heard any news. Just as any old and dark being, Vlad knew the name Rumplestiltskin very well. Although he was much older than the 300 year old sorcerer, Vlad wasn't sure if he ever heard of any being as strong as the Dark One.

"Well, it sounds like things have been interesting here." Vlad smiled thinly.

Knowing what he really meant with that statement, Mackenzie quickly spoke up to give the explanation as to why they were about to kill off the brains of the operation.

"He's become obsessed with Belle."

"And Belle is?"

"The pure soul. He thinks she is Kallea. I think the darkness is taking over more subtly than usual. That or he was too absorbed with her that he didn't notice the pain." Wren said, giving her thoughts on the situation.

"It's not the darkness, it's Kallea." Aston defended himself.

"Shut up." Vlad said with a sharp and threatening voice. "You've _all_ messed up. First off, you haven't even killed the werewolves yet. Why?"

No one said anything but Wren did give a side look towards Ivanna who had been silent since Vlad's arrival. Although she didn't like the idea of Ivanna being friends with the werewolf girl, she was her friend and Wren wasn't ready to send any of her friends to their deaths by Vlad's hands. There were tons of vampires you never pissed off and Vlad was top of that list.

"It's complicated." Wren said. The six remained silent for the next few minutes and watched the elder vampire's reaction, wondering what he would do. Finally, Mackenzie found hid voice and offered that they head to the inn, explaining that the werewolves weren't there at midnight and it would be a more comfortable spot to discuss the past week's events rather than the forest. The only downfall was that they couldn't escape from Vlad if he decided to attack but Mackenzie and Aston both figured that since he was so cunning and smart, he wouldn't make a move on them so early in the game. He was always one that liked to play with his food before he ate. It was the monster in him. They headed to the inn and got ready for the next few days and whatever they might bring.

* * *

"Unbelievable. We picked you Mackenzie because we believed you could handle this. Guess we were wrong." Vlad said, staring at the boy. Despite his team's actions, it fell down on him for their mistakes. Some leader he was. The last hour of informing Vlad of the last week was the worst hour of their immortal life and it was only getting worse.

"I'll go into town tomorrow. Alexei and Vera, you two can show me around since all you two really did was shop and wonder." He smirked at the siblings gulps. "Aston, you will stay in the forest and keep your appetite under hand, got it?"

"Yes sir." The three said.

"As for you Mackenzie, we will talk later. You, Ivanna, and Wren come up with a plan to get rid of the werewolves. No mistakes this time."

Ivanna never felt more fear before than she did right now. Not only was the most feared vampires ever to cross paths with standing a few feet away from them, but he had told, not asked but told, her to make a plan to kill her new friend. Suddenly, she knew what she had to do.

Vlad watched the four head into the woods as Alexei and Vera stood behind him in fear. He couldn't hide his sadist smirk as he turned around to see the look of suppressed terror in the siblings eyes.

"Lead the way." It was a short and simple order but it didn't take much for even the strongest of vampires to cower before the infamous and terrible Vlad. The three than slowly headed out of the inn and into town.

* * *

Vlad was amazed how such a small and close knitted town could seem big when staring down on it from far away. Walking around the town made it seem even larger and they haven't even wondered into the neighborhoods. However, the houses and citizens were the last on his mind. There were only two people he wanted to meet.

"Here we are." Alexei said, pulling Vlad from his thoughts. "The pawn shop."

"It's closed right now. The owner his keeping the girl locked in his home. It's impossible to get to her." Vera stated, keeping her voice low so only her brother and Vlad could hear her.

"We'll find a way." said Vlad.

"May I help you?"

Any normal person would have been startled at the new voice without any warning but being a vampire with sensory and super hearing, the three vampires merely turned around with impassive expression to see the a middle aged woman with brown hair and hands in her coat pocket.

"No thank you. We were just looking." Vlad answered.

"Well there's not much to look at here. We're a pretty small town and tend to keep to ourselves."

"I can tell. Not much tourism."

"Yes, well, visitors are very rare." the woman said, eyeing the young boy and girl. "I'm Regina. The mayor of the town." She said not caring to offer her hand to shake or even crack a smile on her face.

"It was nice meeting you." Vlad said. The three started to turn to leave before the mayor interrupted them to ask them where he came from.

"Here and there. I travel a lot."

"And you just stumbled upon our town." Regina smirked.

"Actually, I had come here to check up on my children here." Alexei and Vera's shocked expression did not go unnoticed by either Regina or Vlad. "We should be leaving soon. No need to worry." He smiled.

Regina watched him carefully for a few seconds before letting them leave. As she watched them walk away, she pulled out her phone and started dialing.

* * *

"Your children?" Alexei asked astonished.

"Never mind that. Who was that woman?"

"The mayor?" Vera responded hesitantly, wondering if Vlad was listening.

"Well it seems that we have another problem."

"What's that?" Alexei asked.

Vlad looked back to see the woman turn the corner and out of sight. He sensed her magic plain as blood. He didn't bother to answer the young boy's question. He continued to walk further into the town with Alexei and Vera as his guide.

* * *

**I would first like to deeply apologize for my too long absent. I have been having some issues emotionally. Luckily, I was able to get my anti-depressants upped and have been feeling better for the last few days. I know this chapter is short but it was more of an introduction to Vlad. Warning: Someone will die in the future chapters. Let me know who you think it is or who it should be. Once again, deeply deeply deeply apologize for the delay and I still hope that my readers will continue to read my stories because I have more ideas in my head. I am really hoping to put of a small Belle and Bae bonding fic soon. Just need the motivation. Best way for that: Reviews! Please! They really do help. Again, sorry and please review!**

_Next time: The town experiences a shock and secrets are exposed._


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